The Roommate
by MandyLeigh87
Summary: <html><head></head>I needed a roommate. What I got was one heck of a problem. AH BxE Rated M</html>
1. Out With the Old, In With the New

**A/N: I don't own. I just play.**

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"Bella I have something to tell you." My roommate Angela looked a little nervous. We'd only moved into this apartment yesterday. I was pretty lucky that I found her the way I did. We didn't know each other before we decided to live together and so far she seems fairly nice with no apparent serial killer tendencies. Yet.

"Okay." I opened one of the boxes in the living room and started pulling out some of my things.

"I'm moving out."

I dropped one of my picture frames and looked around at the mounds of boxes surrounding me. "We just moved in…less than 24 hours ago and now you're moving out?"

"Ben asked me to move in with him."

"Perfect," I said sarcastically. Her boyfriend couldn't have come to this decision before we signed a nine-month lease? Now what the hell was I supposed to do? I mean we leased the bedrooms out individually so I wouldn't have to worry about covering her part of the rent, but I didn't want to live alone.

"I don't want you to worry. I already found a subleaser." She smiled. "He's bringing his stuff by today."

"He?"

"Yeah this guy that Ben knows was actually looking for a place." She started moving her boxes closer to the door, kicking them along with her feet.

I bit down on my lip and turned back to my box. I wasn't sure how I felt about living with a guy. I mean I'd lived with my dad, but this was completely different. Young guys were in a whole other category. They drank milk out of the carton, left their dirty socks everywhere and don't even get me started on the hair. I cocked my eyebrow. _Maybe he's gay. _That's the best I could hope for right now because I didn't know how I was going to handle a typical guy's fuckery.

I glanced at the clock and realized I had to leave or I was going to be late to work. "I have to go. Will you still be around when I get back?"

"Ben's coming to help me move my things at five so I should be here."

"Okay. I guess I'll see you later then." I lifted my bag onto my shoulder and left, feeling a little fucked over and pissed off. It was hard to be mad at Angela. She was one of the nicest people I'd ever met, but seriously…what the fuck?

I stopped by what was sure to become my favorite coffee place and picked up something to get me through the day. I strolled into the bookshop exactly two minutes late, but I knew Eleazer didn't care. He was so old he barely knew what day it was. He kind of reminded me of my Grandpa Swan.

"Hi honey," he said, barely looking up from his book.

"Hi." I set my bag on the stool behind the counter and started browsing through the new books we'd gotten today. This job wasn't glamorous, but I loved it. I got a huge ass discount on all the books here and Eleazer paid me pretty well. There aren't many high profile jobs for English majors.

We weren't busy, as usual. I spent most of the day reading or texting Alice about the Angela situation. She told me she'd kick her ass if I wanted her to, but I decided that I didn't feel like bailing Alice out of jail tonight so I voted against it.

I was a little nervous to leave work because it meant that A. Angela would be moving her things out and B. New guy would be moving his things in. The night was going to be interesting to say the least and I wasn't looking forward to it. I felt like a puppy that was being returned to the pound or something. Not a good feeling.

I avoided leaving as long as I could before I packed up my things and closed up the shop. On my way home I stopped at the convenience store and picked up some candy to procrastinate a little more.

I sighed when I saw Ben's car parked outside of our apartment. I'd only met the man twice, but I couldn't have picked a more perfect person for Angela. They made me want to vomit.

I met him halfway up the stairs as he carried one of Angela's boxes down. "Hi Bella," he said.

"Ben. Congratulations on the whole…moving in together thing." I waved my sucker around as I spoke.

"Yeah it's pretty exciting."

"So exciting," I said, my voice flat as a board. I nodded and continued up the stairs.

The door to our apartment was open and I noticed right away that it looked a lot barer in the living room. She must have most of her boxes gone.

"Bella!" Angela peeked her head out from the kitchen. "I'm so glad you made it home before I left. This is the last box."

A sound echoed from down the hallway, coming from the bedroom formerly known as Angela's. I peeked my head around the corner and saw a shadow move across the doorway.

"He's here already?" I whispered.

"Yeah. He didn't have much…Good thing the living and dining room furniture was mostly yours or you'd have an empty apartment." She leaned in close and smirked. "I'm not going to lie. He's really hot."

"Really?" I squeaked.

"I mean I know you're kinda-sorta dating Paul, but there will be a gorgeous guy sleeping not twenty feet from you. I say you should take advantage of it. I don't think he has a girlfriend."

I peeked my head into the hallway again. Now I was fucking curious as to who this knight in shining armor was. Angela was right, I had been on a few dates with this guy I met at the bookstore. He was nice…but that was about it. Nice. The only guy I'd ever been serious with was my boyfriend from high school and that was a fucking train wreck. He was the only person I ever really loved and it didn't end well. If I never saw him again it would be too soon. Way too soon.

"Here let me introduce you." Angela smiled and skipped down the hallway, pulling me behind her. I popped my sucker into my mouth and took a deep breath as we stepped into the room. "Bella this is your new roommate." He was turned away from me, shrugging out of his leather jacket. He set it on the bed and ran his fingers through his messy bronze hair and turned towards me. As soon as I saw his face, I inhaled a sharp breath and started choking on my sucker.

I doubled over and started hacking until it popped out onto the floor and rolled towards his feet. "Shit!" I whispered, not wanting to look him in the eye. _This is not happening Bella. You're hallucinating. The only reason you see his face right now is because you were just thinking about him._

"I'd know that gag reflex anywhere," he teased.

My fists clenched at my sides as I straightened back up. "Fuck," I mumbled. I wasn't hallucinating. He was here. Right in front of me. The only boy I'd ever loved and the one I never wanted to see again.

"This is…" Angela started.

"Edward fucking Cullen what are you doing in my apartment?" I yelled. Angela looked confused as her eyes darted between the two of us.

"Bella Swan." A strange emotion flickered in his eyes for the slightest moment before he relaxed again. "I think you mean our apartment sweetheart. And I'm unpacking." He chewed idly on a coffee straw and smirked.

"I take it you two know each other?" Angela asked, gulping hard.

"You cannot stay here," I said, completely ignoring her. "I've been dreaming about keying your car since we graduated high school, I cannot live in the same apartment with you."

"Well tough titties. I'm staying." He shrugged and started unpacking his boxes. I watched in shear panic as he piled clothes on his bed. This could not happen. It was not even an option. The last time we spoke to each other consisted of a lot of yelling and screaming and words not heard in a polite conversation. It was impossible for us to live under the same roof.

"I think Ben needs some help. Good luck guys." Angela gave me a nervous smile and left Edward's new key on his desk before high tailing it out of there.

"You have to find someplace else. We'll kill each other!" I screamed.

"There is no place else. I've looked. I've been crashing on my brother's couch for the past two weeks. There's nothing. You're going to have to deal with it," he said. I hated to admit it, but I knew that was true. The only reason we even got this apartment was because Angela knew the girl that was moving out.

"I can't believe this is happening," I whispered, holding back tears. "Is this a trick? Did you know I was living here?" I charged towards him and poked at his shoulder. When he didn't answer me I poked him harder.

"Will you stop fucking doing that?" He finally turned towards me and grabbed my hand. "And no I didn't know. I've known Ben since freshman year and he mentioned that he knew someone who needed a roommate. That's all it ever was. Although I have to say you always were adorable when you were pissed." He winked and turned on his stereo.

"Asshole!" I stomped out of the room and darted into mine before slamming the door. I didn't realize I was sobbing until my mascara started stinging my eyes. My whole chest was still tight from the shock of seeing him in general, let alone in my apartment. To be honest, it still hurt to think about him and seeing him just made it feel like a giant elephant stepped on my lungs and crushed them to oblivion.

I needed to call Alice. I reached over the spot where I usually kept my bag only to find it empty. "Shit," I whispered. I left it in the living room. I guess somewhere between finding my ex in the next bedroom and hiding in my room I must have forgotten to grab it.

I sniffled and took a deep breath before inching the door open. I peeked outside and heard his music still playing. I hope he didn't hear me crying.

I crept out into the hallway and snuck past his room. I caught a quick glance of him throwing a blanket over the bed. It looked like the same ragged comforter he had on his bed at his parents' house.

My bag sat on the floor, right where I'd left it. I quickly picked it up and scurried back towards my room. As soon as I passed in front of his door he cleared his throat. I froze on the spot and turned towards him. He was standing at the edge of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He asked, his brow scrunched tightly together.

"I need to talk to Alice."

"Great. Still friends with the little spitfire?"

"Not that it's any of your business anymore, but yes." I wiped at my eyes. He tilted his head towards me and I knew he was going to ask if I was okay, but I didn't want to hear it. I huffed and hurled myself towards my room to escape.

My fingers were dialing her number before my door even closed.

"The Sweet Spot, this is Alice how can I help you?"

"Alice?" I sobbed.

"Bella? What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"It's my new roommate." I shook my head.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's Edward."

I heard her choke on something on the other end. "I said the same thing."

There was a knock on the door and I held my breath.

"Bella you looked pissed," Edward said. "Are you on your period or something?"

My anger flared, boiling beneath my skin. I picked up my pillow and threw it towards the door. "Go away dick!" I yelled.

"Bella?" Alice asked.

"Sorry," I said.

"I'm on my way, hold tight." The line went dead and I set my phone back down. Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the front door.

I jumped up to answer it when I heard her voice.

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled.

"Answering the door," Edward said. "It's nice to see you too Ali."

"Do not call me that. How dare you come here after what you did to her!"

"I see not much has changed. Always sticking your nose in other people's business."

"Bella is my business and you're the asshole who broke her heart. You have no right to be here."

I started crying again and realized that this shit was crazy enough to land us on Jerry Springer. Old flame turned roommate. I mean what are the chances? And his demeanor was even more bizarre than that. The last time I saw him, he was so angry and now he was all smiles and sarcasm.

"I signed the contract. I have every right," he said. I heard his footsteps down the hallway. "And you have no idea what you're talking about." He slammed his door and a moment later, Alice was poking her head inside my room. She sat in bed with me, twirling my hair through her fingers as I replayed the events of the day again.

"And there's no way out of it?" She asked. "I mean you can't force him out?"

"Not legally I guess. He signed the papers for the bedroom, I can't do anything about it."

"And there's nowhere else that you can move to?"

"There are zero apartments in this town that I can afford."

"You could always move in with me."

I shook my head. "Alice you have a studio apartment, it's too small for two people. And plus I don't think there's any room in your closet for my stuff."

She laughed a little and pulled me close. "Okay so it's less than a year. You'll just have to tough it out and then you can get the hell away from him. Nine months Bella." Seemed like an eternity living with someone as infuriating as Edward was.

We talked for a while and Alice eventually fell asleep beside me. I hadn't heard a peep from Edward's room since Alice's arrival so I assumed he was sleep or had left.

I slipped silently from my bed and tiptoed over to my closet. I reached up and pulled out a small box from the top shelf. I don't know why I still kept it after all these years, but I couldn't bring myself to throw everything away. He was such a big part of me and even though I wanted to smother him in his sleep at the moment, I couldn't deny that.

I sat down on the floor and pulled the box onto my lap. I opened it with shaky fingers and was met with Edward's smiling face. It was our picture from senior prom, the week before everything went to hell. We looked happy, in love. I didn't understand how something like that could end up so wrong. Even after all this time, I couldn't believe he never told people the real reason we broke up. He didn't owe me that, not after everything that happened. Looking back on it, it was the one redeeming quality he had through our breakup. He called me names, threw glares my way, but he never said a word about it, not even to his brother. I would have known if he did. A lot of things would have been different.

I tucked the box back away in my closet and returned to bed. "Nine months," I whispered. Roughly two hundred and eighty days. It'd taken the man two seconds to break my heart all over again; I couldn't imagine what would happen in nine months.

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><p><strong>AN: Welcome to The Roommate. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.**

**Huge thank you to my twin ImHereToReview for being generous enough to preread this for me and offer up her opinions. I appreciate her so much and you guys should all go read her stories : )**

**At the present time, I have another WIP going on called Love Like Winter. It's a cross between Beauty and the Beast and Twilight, you guys should definitely check it out if you haven't already. **

**Find me on Twitter: MandyLeigh010**

**Find me on Facebook: MandyLeigh Fanfic**

**The Roommate Blog: www(dot)theroommateff(dot)blogspot(dot)com**

**Posting Schedule: Once a week as of right now, I'll keep you updated on any changes should they occur**

**Thank you to everyone who does and will recc and review! I appreciate you : )  
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	2. Still Got It

**I don't own, I just play.**

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><p>I woke up alone the next morning, groggy and disoriented. I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair as I groaned and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I noticed my pajama pants on the floor and realized I must have kicked them off in the middle of the night, which wasn't unusual. I woke up a couple of weeks ago with one arm out of my shirt and my boobs hanging out. Needless to say I was happy there was no one around to witness that disaster. Not like there would be anyway. Paul and I definitely were not at that sleep over stage yet and part of me wondered if I even wanted to go there with him. He's pretty good in the makeout department, but he kind of smells like cheese.<p>

I stumbled out of bed and promptly ran into the wall of my bedroom. _How did that get there?_ I felt across the wall and finally found the door. I yawned and started towards the bathroom, picking a wedgie as I went. I didn't bother turning the light on. I just went inside and did my business in the dark. After I was finished I reached around and flicked on the hallway light so I could find my toothbrush.

I froze mid-grab when I noticed the second toothbrush in the holder. It was blue, definitely not the green that Angela's was yesterday. My eyes traveled to the counter and I gasped when I saw all the shaving cream and electric razor plugged in. "Shit," I mumbled as all the events of yesterday came flooding back. Angela gone. Edward here. I looked down at my bare legs. Me in my underwear. Fuck.

I frantically pulled at my oversized shirt, trying to cover myself. Maybe he wasn't awake yet. I peeked out into the hallway and saw that his door was closed. That was at least a good sign. I took a deep breath and darted towards my bedroom. I quietly closed the door behind me and slipped on my pajama pants. I grabbed a sticky note and a marker before scribbling down "Pants" and sticking it to my door.

I opened my door again and went to make some breakfast. I had to be to work in a little over an hour and I still needed to shower. I flipped on the light and frowned when I saw the coffee light already on. "What the fuck..." I murmured.

"Morning sunshine," Edward said, suddenly beside me. I jumped and grabbed my chest as I turned towards his voice. He was sitting on a bean bag, which I assumed to be the only piece of furniture he owned, in the complete darkness of the dining room area.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"Long enough." He smirked and took a sip of his coffee. I quickly poured myself a cup. "Nice rainbow underwear."

I felt the blush radiate through my body. He saw me. Shit. I flipped him off and scurried to my room. I quickly grabbed my things and headed to the shower. He was still sitting in the dark like nothing had happened with that same damn smirk on his face. "You're an asshole," I said, closing the door behind me. I heard him laugh.

I turned on the shower and stripped off my clothes, piling them in the corner. I hopped in and started washing my hair. Five minutes later, I heard the toilet flush and the water went ice cold. I screamed and hopped back before peeking my head out. Edward was zipping up his jeans. He didn't bother putting the seat back down before he walked back out.

"Excuse me?" I said, my mouth gaping.

"Relax, its nothing I haven't seen before." He waved it off and left the bathroom, leaving the door wide open.

I shook my head and finished up my shower. I turned the water off and reached outside, grasping for my towel. I dried myself off in the shower and wrapped it around my body before stepping out. Edward was in the kitchen poking at the toaster like it was supposed to do some kind of trick.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"It ate my toast."

I stomped over and noticed a small billow of smoke rising from the toaster. I sighed and pulled on the little lever in the front. His charred toast popped up.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone."

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I have to work," I said, enunciating each word. "Don't you have a big boy job?"

He shrugged and took a bite of his toast. I grimaced, thinking about how shitty it must taste. "Sometimes I help my dad out at the clinic..."

"Wait a minute...you genuinely don't have a job?"

"I guess not." He took another bite.

"How do you pay for everything?" I knew Edward's parents were loaded, but I didn't think Carlisle would just let him live off of him forever.

"I saved up."

"Saved from what? You've never had a job."

"I got an inheritance when my grandma died okay? Jesus, get off my back woman."

"Do not call me that." I stepped forward so my chest was almost pressing against his. He looked down at my towel and cleared his throat. "You're not allowed to call me that anymore."

I held back the sting in my heart when he said it. He used to call me that all the time. His woman. It was stupid and immature, but I was his. And now I wasn't anymore. I never wanted to hear it again.

"I have to go to work," I said again. I carried my coffee back into my room and got dressed.

When I left he was thankfully in his room. I made sure to slam the door on my way out and headed to work.

The shop was actually fairly busy today so I didn't have much time to tell Alice everything that happened this morning. I ended up meeting her after work for coffee.

"So he saw you in your underwear?" She asked.

"Yep." I nodded and took a sip.

"Hmm..." She hummed. "You know I didn't get a good look at him when I was bitching him out, but is he still..." She waved her hand.

"Is he still what?"

"Is he still hot?"

"Alice it doesn't matter." I shook my head.

"I know it doesn't." She took a sip and stared at me. "I mean not that I'm supporting any fraternization between you two, but I'm just curious. The boy had a nice body in high school. Regardless, he's still a stupid bastard. I'm Team Bella all the way."

I rolled my eyes and tried to remember him from this morning. I guess I've been blinded by my own hatred to see him clearly. I remembered him very vividly from high school, but I hadn't even thought about paying attention to him now unless it was with the sight of my dad's shotgun.

"Oh God!" Alice squealed. "There he is!" She pointed outside and I saw Edward crossing the street towards the coffee shop. I thought about diving into the trash bin to avoid him, but it was too late. He paused when he saw us before laughing and stepping inside. He cautiously approached the table, his hands up defensively.

"Are you going to hit me again?" He asked Alice.

"Depends." She shrugged and glanced between him and me. "What are you up to Edward?"

"I need to stop by the store but I wanted some coffee first."

"What do you need at the store, I probably already have it," I said.

"A plunger."

"Why do you need a plunger?"

He lifted his eyebrows and shrugged. "Shit happens."

"Damn it, that's gross. Go away." I waved him off. He winked at Alice and went up to the counter. I caught her checking out his ass as he walked away and I snapped my fingers in front of her.

"Hello?" I asked.

"He's still got it," she murmured. I hesitantly turned around and watched him approach the counter. He leaned in close to the cashier and flashed her a smile as he ordered. When he reached around for his wallet, his shirt rode up a little, exposing the waistband of his boxers and his defined muscles.

"Fuck," I whispered. My hand shot up to cover my mouth, but the damage was done. Alice laughed at me as I spun back towards her.

"Exactly. Maybe I'll have to get you a new toy from the shop."

"No." I shook my head. Alice worked at a sex shop and was anything but discreet about her profession. If she wasn't talking about the newest flavor of body paint she was going on and on about the latest inventory.

I sighed and finished my coffee in silence. Alice kept smirking at me like she knew some kind of secret that I was completely oblivious to and I hated it.

"What?" I finally asked.

"You're blushing..." She murmured.

"I am not blushing," I lied.

"You are. Because you're thinking of Edward naked." She wagged her eyebrows.

"I am not. And it would not matter if Edward was the last male on the planet, I would not touch him with a nine foot pole."

"I bet he's got a nine foot pole." She wagged her eyebrows.

"Have a good evening ladies." Edward was suddenly beside us. I screamed and jumped so violently that I practically inhaled my coffee through my nose. He laughed a little and winked at me before leaving.

I went and hung out at Alice's for a little bit to procrastinate going home, but I couldn't avoid it forever. Part of me was hoping he wasn't home and part of me was hoping I'd maybe walk in on him in the shower. Just a small part. There was that part buried so deep inside me, particularly circulating in the lower half of my body, that was still attracted to him even though I hated him. It was like a fucking vag mutiny and I was powerless to stop it from happening.

When I opened the door to the apartment, it was completely dark and I wondered if he was even home. I set my bag down by the front door and threw my keys on the table before drifting through the apartment. As I got closer and closer to his room, I heard sounds that stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Oh yeah!" A female voice moaned. "Right there! Harder!" She screamed.

I cocked my eyebrow and crossed my arms. I should have been embarrassed that I was stumbling in on him with another woman, but it just made me angry more than anything else. How dare he bring some skank in here?

I knocked loudly on the door, but I was only met with more moaning. He probably didn't even hear me.

"You're so big!" The voice screamed again. She let out a strangled moan like she was getting pounded harder than the meat at the butcher shop.

"What the fuck?" I said to myself. Before I could stop my hand, it reached out for the doorknob and twisted it open. I stomped inside, my whole body on fire with rage.

I froze when I saw him. He was completely alone, laying in bed watching something on his lap top. He looked up at me with no particular expression and turned his eyes back to his computer. Another sexy groan escaped from the speakers and I became even more mortified than if I would have walked in on what I thought I was walking in on.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"Watching porn." He shrugged.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

"Guys watch porn Bella. Relax." He rolled his eyes and adjusted himself through his sweatpants. I couldn't help but watch. It was like one of those infomercials about the Slap Chop or Sham Wow. You know you should turn the channel, but two hours later you still find yourself glued to the TV. Except I was glued to Edward's dick...figuratively.

"Can I help you?" He asked, snapping me out of my stare.

"No I just...uh...no." I turned and high tailed it out of his room. I went to my room and closed the door so I could have some privacy.

I started pacing around my room, tugging at my hair so hard I thought I was going to pull it out. He was going to drive me crazy and he'd only been here a few days. How was I supposed to last for months? And better yet, how was he so nonchalant about this whole thing? Do I not affect him at all? Even if it was hate, I expected something more than his sarcastic side to show. He was always a charmer in high school, but I didn't understand him now. He said I hurt him...broke his heart back then. And I wish I could take it back, but it didn't explain his behavior. He was either over it or hiding it really well. Sooner or later I knew our past was going to blow up in our faces, but until then I would have to just get by, survive the aftermath of his arrival. I was doing everything I could to keep afloat because I was starting to realize that even though I've grown up, a part of me still missed him. And it killed me that he didn't miss me too.

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><p><strong>AN: So I know it's not technically what I have dubbed "Roommate Wednesday," but I have a few reasons I have uploaded this chapter a little early:**

**a. You guys are fucking amazing. Thank you so much for your responses to the first chapter, I was completely overwhelmed. **

**b. I have finals and a lot of work this week so I have no idea if I'll actually be able to update on Wednesday (this does not mean you necessarily won't get an extra chapter this week, I just wanted to make sure you at least got one)**

**c. My goal is to get a LLW chapter out this week as well, so that's my ff priority this week  
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**A few questions that have come up that I wanted to answer:**

**_Is this story going to have a HEA?_: Yes. This story is very light compared to others I've done (SL and CoC) and I'm honestly just trying to have a lot of fun with it so I hope you guys just take it for what it is and have fun with it too. Just to forewarn, if you haven't already figured it out, these characters were and can be immature at times so don't expect a lot of deep moments. Hopefully you'll get a laugh or a smile out of most of this story. **

**_What happened between Bella and Edward? And when do we find out? _I don't have the exact chapter number planned out, but probably around midway as of right now. And I'm pleading the fifth on what really went down between them. You've all got some interesting theories though ; ) The issues surrounding their break up are really the most angsty part of the story.  
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**_How often do you update? _Again I'm shooting for every Wednesday and if that changes for good or bad, I'll let you guys know.**

**_Is this story completely in BPOV? _For various reasons yes. Although there are some chapters that would lend themselves to some amazing Edward outtakes : )  
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**Sorry for the long a/n, not very typical of me. Again thank you to my prereader ImHereToReview for all of her suggestions and for always listening to my rambling ideas. And thanks to you guys for reading, recc'ing, reviewing and any other r's you can come up with : )  
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	3. It Ends Tonight

**A/N: I don't own, I just play. The inspiration for the first part of the chapter was "It Ends Tonight" by All American Rejects.  
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><p>I knew I was dreaming the moment I looked down at my clothes. I was wearing one of those ridiculous screen tees from that store with the half-naked men in their ads. I knew exactly what day it was. It was May 9th of my senior year of high school. I was graduating in two weeks. And my boyfriend had just broken up with me...I mean really broken up with me. We were that stupid couple that broke up and got back together so many times I couldn't even count. I knew it was because we were young and stupid and loved pissing each other off, but I always knew it would be okay because behind all the bullshit we really loved each other. Or did.<p>

I sniffled as he pulled up in front of my house. Tonight was supposed to be special for us and it turned out to be a shitstain. The end of everything.

"Edward..." I started. He sighed and leaned away from me, resting his head against the window. His finger tapped anxiously on the steering wheel as I tried to find the right words. They never came and he never gave them a chance to.

"Just...get out. I can't look at you anymore." He kept his eyes trained on the streetlight in front of us. Even in the darkness I could see the disdain dripping from his expression.

"Edward please, just talk to me," I mumbled, feeling smaller than ever. I cowered back into the seat as I waited for him to speak.

"Get out of my fucking car Bella." His grip tightened on the steering wheel, but he still wouldn't look at me. "It's over."

My breath caught in my throat, but I nodding numbly and reached for the door handle. As soon as I closed the door, he sped off, screeching his tires against the pavement.

I didn't remember crossing the lawn to my front door. When I was finally inside, I noticed my father sleeping on the couch with a beer resting on his chest and the Mariner's game on the television. I slipped upstairs and went into the bathroom, immediately stripping off my clothes and turning on the shower. After everything that happened between Edward and I tonight, I felt dirty. My entire body started shaking from the shock of it all and I doubled over in pain, grasping for the toilet before I threw up all over the bathroom. I wiped my mouth and took a deep breath as I rinsed my mouth out in the sink. When I looked up and saw my reflection, I instantly hated myself for what I'd done. This was my fault.

I started sobbing as soon as I stepped under the water and scrubbed furiously at my skin. When I was finished, I stepped out and my eyes immediately went to my shirt crumpled up in the corner. I cringed. I would never be able to look at that shirt and not think of tonight. I never wanted to wear it again.

I wrapped myself up in my fluffy purple robe and shuffled to my bedroom. I didn't bother drying my hair or putting pajamas on, I just crawled into bed and stared at the window all night like I thought that he might show up on the other side of it like always. Instead I watched the sunrise completely alone.

My hair was a complete rat's nest, but I was too occupied with my thoughts to even run a comb through it. I pulled on some jeans and a sweatshirt and managed to brush my teeth before going to school. It was my last day as a high school student and I looked like hell run over.

My dad cocked his eyebrow as I walked downstairs and out the front door. When I got to school, Alice was of course the epitome of adorable. She was sitting in her boyfriend Jasper's car, waiting for me to arrive. I was sure she was about to be all excited for me about last night. Obviously it didn't happen like it was supposed to so I wasn't really looking forward to that conversation.

I took a deep breath and got out of my car. Her eyes lit up as soon as she saw me and she skipped over to greet me.

"So..." She said. "Tell me how was it? Was he romantic or was it kinky? Did it hurt? Is that why you're dressed like this? Are you sore or something? That's completely normal you know."

"Alice stop," I mumbled.

"What? Was he bad?"

"We didn't." I shook my head. That wasn't entirely the truth, but we didn't do what she thought we did. Not all the way anyway. "We broke up." I sped up and broke away from her before she could ask me anything else. She didn't know...about any of it. The only other person besides Edward that knew now was my friend Jake. I doubted it would stay like that for long. Rumors spread like wildfire in this high school and even though it was the last day, Edward was pissed off enough at me that it wouldn't surprise me if he spray painted it on his car and paraded through the parking lot.

I hid in my hoodie for the entire day. I heard rumblings about Edward and my breakup, but no details. No true details anyway. I didn't speak to anyone until lunch. That was the first time I saw him.

He was sitting at our table with his little brother Emmett and his girlfriend Rosalie. We all used to sit at that table. We all used to be friends. Now it was completely off limits. Even Jasper and Alice were sitting at a booth over in the corner. She waved me over when she saw me, but I went to him instead, hoping he would talk to me.

He didn't even look up as I approached him. Rosalie scowled at me when I came up, which wasn't unusual for her so I wondered if he really did tell them the truth or not. Emmett gave me a sad smile and went back to eating his lunch.

"Edward," I said, my voice shaking. "Can I talk to you in private?" I pulled at my hoodie and looked around the room. Everyone was staring at us.

"Edward," Emmett mumbled, elbowing him lightly in the ribs.

One of the senior cheerleaders skipped up to Edward and sat down beside him. "So there's this party tonight," she said. "At Ben's. Do you want to go with me?" She glanced at me. "I mean if you're not...with someone."

I glared at her. She knew damn well about Edward and I. Even if we were fighting that was a low blow.

"No, I'm game," Edward said. He smiled at her. "And I'm not seeing anyone. I'm single." He winked at her and got up, taking his tray with him. He threw his trash away and left the cafeteria without one word or glance my way.

I bit down on my lip and held back the tears. "I deserve that," I mumbled to no one. I turned around as Emmett started to say something and headed towards Alice and Jasper. She asked me what happened, but I refused to tell her and she eventually resorted to rubbing my back as the tears fell silently down my cheek.

I glanced outside and saw Edward making his way out to the parking lot. He got into his car and took off. It was the last time I ever saw him. He skipped graduation. I heard he left town, but nobody knew where. The last place I ever expected to see him was my apartment and over the years I'd grown to hate him. Even though I take the blame for our breakup, I hated him for leaving. I hated him because I loved him and I couldn't be with him. There were so many reasons that just festered into this gigantic ball of Edward hate that I had to deal with now.

The alarm on my phone woke me up and I realized I was still on the couch. I must have fallen asleep watching television. I had to be to work in a half hour and I'm sure I looked like hell. I was planning on showering last night, but that obviously didn't happen so now I'd just have to wing it.

I had a few texts from Alice and Paul asking what I was doing. I sent them both quick ones back saying I'd fallen asleep and had to go into work.

I stumbled off the couch and started towards the bathroom. Midway through the hallway I tripped over something and almost fell to the floor. I flipped on the lightswitch and saw one of Edward's sneakers in the middle of the floor. Just one.

"Damnit Edward," I whispered. I glared at his door, almost like he could feel my anger. I kicked it towards the wall and continued to the bathroom. I had a habit of peeing in the dark and it kept biting me in the ass, figuratively of course. As soon as I sat down on the toilet I knew something was wrong because to put it bluntly, my ass got wet. I yelped and stood up to find the toilet seat up. He's been here less than two weeks and I've had to remind him over a dozen times that little girls pee with the seat down.

As soon as I was finished getting ready, I headed to work. An hour into it, I was feeling exhausted, probably from my couch escapades the night before. Nightmares about your hellish breakup with your roommate ex didn't lend themselves to a good nights sleep.

I texted Alice to see if she could bring me some coffee on her break and she thankfully agreed. An hour later our first customer came into the store and my jaw dropped.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked.

Edward stepped up to the counter, a coffee in hand and a smirk on his face. "Alice was busy so she asked me to bring you this."

"Alice asked you to bring me coffee?"

"I guess its the "rules of being roommates"...or whatever she called it."

"Oh," I cocked my eyebrow. This was fucking odd. "Thanks. How much do I owe you?"

"You're welcome. And it's on me."

"Okay." I took a sip and expected him to leave, but he didn't. "So...I'll see you later then?"

"So this is where you work?" He asked, ignoring my farewell.

"Yep." I nodded as he started moseying through the stacks of books.

"You always were a book nerd." He laughed a little and disappeared down one of the aisles.

"Where are you going?" I skipped out from behind the counter as Eleazer's eyes watched with curiousity.

I peeked around the corner and saw him dart around the other end. I walked down and around just to see him fly by another stack. It was like playing cat and mouse and it was pissing me off.

"Edward stop!" I said. He peeked his head out from one of the rows and stood still as I walked to him. "What are you doing?"

"I just want to see where my roommate works." He shrugged and flipped through a book. "What do you think of this one?" He held it up.

"Why do you want to know where I work?"

"Come on Bella I know you've read it..." He murmured. I glanced at the book he was holding and sighed.

"I stayed up all night reading it when we got it in." I sighed and crossed my arms.

He smiled and nodded before putting it back on the shelf. He took a few steps and I darted after him. He stopped abruptly, causing me to run right into his back. He stiffened and slowly turned around to face me, leaning his arm against one of the stacks.

"I don't understand," I said.

"Understand what?"

My thoughts went back to the nightmare I'd had last night and the look on his face the last time I saw him. It was the complete opposite of what was before me now.

"You." I bit my lip. "I mean..." I lowered my voice. "Edward the last time I saw you, you...you _hated_ me. And now you're bringing me coffee and sleeping in the bedroom next to mine like it's nothing."

He tapped his finger against the shelf and lowered his eyes. "We've grown up Bella. I've changed. You've changed."

"But I hurt you Edward."

"Yeah you did." His face hardened slightly as the bell on the front door rang, indicating someone had walked in.

"Is Bella here?" _Shit._ It was Paul.

"She's uh...helping a customer," Eleazer said.

I heard the footsteps and realized how close Edward and I were. I cleared my throat and took a step back as Paul rounded the corner.

"There you are," he said, looking between Edward and I. "Sorry I don't mean to interrupt."

"No it's fine," Edward said. "I was just leaving." He glanced at me once more before brushing past me. I heard the door bell once more and he was gone.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked. He poked my shoulder.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Yeah I'm fine. What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure we were still on for tonight. Date at your place?" He smiled.

"Fuck," I whispered. I forgot I promised to make him dinner once I moved into the new apartment, but that was before the whole Edward fiasco. I wasn't sure how that would go, but I was willing to bet on a scale of okay to nice it would hit awkward really quick.

"Sweetheart?" He asked. I never really liked that he called me that, but I didn't want to sound like a bitch. We were not serious enough for him to call me anything but my name. I'm not saying we won't ever get to that point, but we definitely had not reached it.

"Yeah. Yeah we're still on." I ran my fingers through my hair. Maybe Edward would just stay in his room all night.

"Okay I'll see you later." He leaned down and briefly brushed his lips against mine. He smiled and left.

I called Alice as soon as I got back to the counter.

"The Sweet Spot, this is Alice," she answered.

"Paul's coming to dinner tonight. At my apartment. With Edward there."

"Well that'll be interesting. Speaking of Edward, how was your coffee?"

"It was fantastic. You know you really didn't have to send him, if you didn't have time to run it over I could have survived."

"I had plenty of time," she said. "I ran into Edward at the coffee shop and he pretty much ripped the coffee out of my hands and asked where you worked. I think he was just curious."

"About what?"

"About you. Where you worked, what you do. Maybe he's trying to be your friend Bella, have you ever considered that?"

"No," I admitted. "Because it's impossible."

"Why is it impossible?"

"Because too much happened between us. And I can't just be friends with him Alice, there's too much history."

"And sexual tension."

"There is not!" I shook my head. "Maybe "I might smother you in your sleep" tension, but not sexual. That ship has sailed."

"Has it?"

"Yes."

"Okay," she laughed. "Hope you have fun on your date tonight with Paul...and Edward."

I rolled my eyes and hung up on her. She loved making me uncomfortable for sport, I swear she'd win the Gold fucking medal for it. She was right about one thing. Tonight was definitely going to be interesting.

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you so so much for reading and reviewing! I appreciate you guys so much and love that you guys love the story.**

**If you aren't following the blog already, you may want to do so since I post fun things on there. After the last update, I posted some visuals for the story at the request of a wonderful reviewer of things like what the apartment looks like and where Bella works. Thanks for the suggestion Remmy. : )**

**A couple people have asked how old Edward and Bella are, and although I don't have exact ages they are 1 or 2 years out of college generally.**

**Again thank you to ImHereToReview for her endless wisdom and suggestions with this story. I can't tell you how great it is to just have someone listen to your ramblings and tell you the honest truth about them : )**

**So what do you guys think is going to happen during their date? Is Edward going to be a good boy and stay in his room so they can have some nice time together?**


	4. Hungry Hungry Edward

**I don't own. I just play. Thanks ImHereToReview for your infinite wisdom.**

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><p>"What are you doing?" Edward asked. I leaned over what I was cooking on the stove and smiled.<p>

"I'm making dinner."

"It smells good, when will it be ready?" He walked over and stopped beside me. He leaned over and smelled, smirking with anticipation.

"It'll be ready in about twenty minutes, but it's not for you." I stirred it a couple of times and set the spoon down beside the stove.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Because Paul is coming over to have dinner with me." I spun towards him and narrowed my eyes. "Be nice."

"I'm always nice." He laughed and eyed the food again. "Can I just…try it?"

"Fine." I reached for a new spoon and dipped it in. He leaned forward as I lifted the spoon up to his lips. His tongue darted out and swiped along his bottom lip before he opened his mouth. I slipped the spoon inside his mouth and he instantly closed his eyes and hummed at the taste.

I shivered as I pulled back and waited for him to say something. "Is it good?" I asked.

"Mmm…" He held up one finger, asking me to wait. "Let me enjoy it."

I laughed and noticed a small trace of food below his lip. "Uh…you have something…"

He didn't respond so I reached up and swiped it away. I felt my body flush with heat as his tongue peeked out again. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Thanks."

"I have to go get ready…" I breathed, darting out of the kitchen before he could say anything else. _What the fuck was that?_

Attraction is defined as the action or power of evoking interest, pleasure, or liking for someone or something. That little blip that just happened in the kitchen? I'm not sure what the hell it was, but it was definitely something different than the usual reaction I had to him. As in I didn't want to punch him in the face or vomit all over him. But was it attraction? How could it be after all these years?

I inched open my door and held my breath as I looked out. Edward was quietly eating spoonfuls of soup from the pan, not bothering to conceal his thievary. I couldn't help but laugh at his display. I quietly closed the door and leaned back against it. After I counted to ten and tried to push Edward from my mind, I walked over to my closet and picked out something to wear.

I changed into my dress and ran a comb through my hair just as I heard a knock on the door. I skipped out, checking my makeup once more in the mirror on the way. Edward's door was closed thankfully. I wasn't sure if I was ready to have "the conversation" with Paul about him. I hoped that Edward would cut us a break and give us some time together.

I opened the door and smiled as he pushed some flowers my way. I smiled to placate him, even though I was never really a fan of flowers. Sure they looked pretty, but they just died a few days later and they were a bitch to clean up. Especially after your cat eats and throws them up like my old cat MC Hammer used to.

"Thank you," I said. He leaned down and kissed my cheek as he stepped inside.

"So where's the new roommate? Do I get to meet her finally?" He asked.

"She's...busy." I glanced towards Edward's room as I started towards the kitchen. I got a vase for the flowers and set them on the dining room table. I checked on the food, stirring it a little and making sure it was done.

Paul came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "That smells really good. Can I try it?"

I grabbed another spoon and did the same thing I did earlier with Edward, except it didn't feel the same. After he told me how delicious it was, I threw the spoon in the sink. I had no idea what was happening with me. Something was off and I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hey are you okay?" Paul brushed my hair over my shoulder. "Did you have rough day at work?"

"Yeah," I lied. "Sorry."

I grabbed the food and set everything out on the table. I sat on the far side of the table with a perfect view of the rest of the apartment. Paul started digging in and rambling on about the poker night he had with his friends last night. Apparently he won twenty bucks and his friend Embry passed out from drinking too much. They drew a mustache on his face for good measure and took pictures. I feigned interest; enough for him to think I was really paying attention.

I started to doubt that Paul and I had any connection at all. I felt about as much pull towards him as opposing ends of magnets. But he was here. He wanted to be with me. He brought me flowers I didn't want and came to visit me at work. Doesn't that mean something?

I held my breath as Edward's bedroom door opened. He glanced our way for the slightest moment before slinging a towel over his shoulder and heading to the bathroom. Paul was still so absorbed in his story that he didn't notice.

Edward walked into the bathroom and looked at us once more. He looked pissed for some reason and I couldn't understand why. I glared right back at him as he closed the door. Unfortunately it didn't catch and slowly crept back open, exposing a small glance into the bathroom.

I watched as he stepped up to the sink and glanced at himself in the mirror. His shoulders heaved up and down. He leaned over and splashed some water on his face before pulling his shirt up over his head. I started choking on my soup. Apparently Edward had a significant affect on my swallowing reflex.

"Are you okay?" Paul asked.

"Yeah I'm fine." I cleared my throat and took a sip of water. My eyes drifted back to Edward in the bathroom. He bent into the shower and turned on the water. Paul started to turn around and I panicked. I reached my foot across the floor and rubbed it against his leg. "So my birthday's coming up..."

"Yeah in like two months..." He laughed. "What are you going to do for it?"

"I don't know yet."

Edward reached for the zipper on his pants and I held my breath as he pulled it down and pushed them down to the floor. I involuntarily whimpered at the sight of his body and shot my eyes back to Paul, hoping that he didn't notice.

"You're going to rub a hole in my leg Bella," he whispered. He blushed a little, thinking I was really turned on by him. _I'm going to Hell,_ I thought to myself.

When I looked back at Edward I was met with his bare ass taking the few steps to the shower. I mentally scolded myself for wanting to touch it. _I wanted to touch it._ As he stepped inside, I found myself leaning in my chair, hoping to see it for one more second.

"Bella!" Paul screamed.

The next thing I knew I was falling down, down, down to the ground. My chair landed on top of me with a crash and Paul was instantly beside me. He pulled the chair off me and started to help me up. Behind my wall of embarrassment, I managed to see Edward pop his head out from behind the shower curtain. Our eyes locked for a second and he fucking smirked at me. That bastard knew exactly what he was doing.

"I'm fine!" I said a little harsher than I'd meant. Paul backed up and frowned.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"No." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I was just a little startled."

"Okay." He looked like a wounded puppy and if I had one weakness it was adorable animals. I stood up and rushed over to hug him, like I'd broken him or something.

"I'm sorry." I was relieved to see that Edward had reached out and fully closed the bathroom door. Of course it didn't matter now. The damage had been done. I was sure to have a bruised ass and a broken chair. "Why don't we go relax in my room?" I asked.

"Okay." He nodded and I pulled him towards my bedroom. I closed the door behind us and sat down on my bed. "Sweetheart you seem upset." He sat down behind me. "Is something bothering you?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. "No."

He started rubbing my back, massaging my tense muscles in all the right places. My head fell forward as he pulled my hair away from my neck and pressed his lips against my skin. His fingers traveled up my neck and to my chin. He tilted my head towards him and kissed me.

_Kiss him Bella. It will take your mind off Edward._

I turned towards him and kissed him back as I laced my fingers through his hair. His tongue slipped out and ran across my lower lip before dipping between them. I moaned and pulled myself onto his lap.

_Paul. Paul. Paul. Paul. Edward. Edward's abs. Edward's back. Edward's ass. Edward's smile. Edward's lips. _

I felt myself becoming more and more turned on as the moment's passed. I imagined Edward's hands on me, instead of Paul's. It was Edward's tongue moving with mine. Edward's fingers slowly creeping up beneath my dress.

A part of me felt like the girl I was back in high school, my body flushing at the thought of Edward touching me like this. I was crazy for that boy, even after everything got so messed up. I was starting to question whether I ever regained sanity.

I pushed my hips forward and froze when his fingers brushed against my panties. He smiled against my lips and dipped his finger inside. I moaned as they felt along me, massaging me roughly. I bit down on my lip and started riding his fingers as he slipped another inside.

"Right there?" He asked.

"Yes," I breathed. I moaned loudly as I neared closer to my release. Paul had chartered this territory two times before but unfortunately it was left...undiscovered if you catch my drift. I always faked it. I sure as hell wasn't faking it now.

Loud music suddenly started playing from Edward's room and I jumped in terror. The bass was thumping so hard against the walls that my pictures were shaking.

"What the hell is your roommate doing?" Paul asked.

"Don't worry about it." I kissed him and urged him to keep going. He worked me up to the edge again and I realized I was being louder than usual. Did I want Edward to hear? Was I paying him back for the stunt he pulled earlier?

"What'd you say?" Paul asked.

"What?"

"You just said Edward...who's Edward?"

_Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit._ "No I didn't." I pressed my lips to his to shut him up and hoped that he'd forget.

Something started slamming out in the kitchen, almost like someone was banging cabinets on purpose.

"Okay this is ridiculous..." Paul said. He gently shifted me off his lap and started towards the door.

"No Paul don't!" I ran towards him, but it was too late. He was the Titanic and Edward was the fucking berg. We were headed for major disaster.

"Hey what's your...problem?" Paul stopped as soon as he got into the kitchen. "Who are you?"

I caught up to him as he reached out his hand to Edward.

"No thanks, I don't know where that's been," Edward laughed and glanced at me. "And I'm Bella's roommate. I'm sorry was I being too loud? I couldn't find the chips." He cocked his eyebrow. _Jackass_.

"Yeah. No it's okay." Paul turned to me, a puzzled look on his face. "I thought your roommate was a girl."

"She was," I said, stomping my foot. "I mean there was this thing and she moved out and he moved in..." I shrugged and hoped the conversation would end there.

"You know she doesn't really like flowers..." Edward said, pulling out the chips and nodding towards the bouquet Paul had brought me. I gasped and my eyes shot towards Paul. He looked slightly irritated.

"You've known her for less than a month and you think you know her better than I do?"

"Oh you didn't tell him?" Edward chomped down on a chip.

"Tell me what?" Paul glared at me and I figured there was no use hiding it now. I just hated how much pleasure Edward was getting from this exchange, almost like he couldn't have planned it better himself.

"This is...my ex-boyfriend," I said.

"Your what?" Paul glanced from me to Edward.

"Edward." He shoved another chip in his mouth. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Edward?" Paul's brow furrowed as he put two and two together. "Edward?"

"Present," Edward said. He gave a little wave and exited the kitchen. He returned moments later with his beanbag and sat down in the living room.

"You're living with your ex-boyfriend!" He yelled.

"I didn't mean to!" I shrugged.

"This is unbelievable. And that little slip in the bedroom? What am I supposed to make of that?" He started towards the door. I blushed and looked towards Edward. He cocked his eyebrow and chomped on another chip.

"Where are you going?" I asked, bolting after Paul.

"I'm leaving this is like...beyond Twilight Zone for me." He put on his coat and opened the door.

"Paul I'm sorry..."

He interrupted me by closing my own door in my face. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I was pissed. I think I just got broken up with because I may or may not have moaned my ex-boyfriend's name when my current kind-of boyfriend has its fingers in my lady land. And to add to all of it, I was so sexually frustrated at the moment since we'd been interrupted that I was about to explode into a million little sex-crazed Bella pieces. Fuck.

I turned around and crossed my arms at Edward.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"It's not my fault you didn't tell him," he said, his mouth full of food. He tilted the bag my way. "Chip?"

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><p><strong>AN: Sneaky, adorable, cute bastard. You all knew him well enough already to know he wouldn't stay put. ; )**

**Just a quick note for those of you reading LLW, the next chapter is finished and with the beta. **

**Thanks for reading, reviewing, retweeting, recommending and any other awesome things starting with "r" that you do. You guys continue to amaze me and I'm so happy that you're having as much fun with this story as I am. As always keep an eye on the blog for teasers and such. Even if you don't have a google account you can sign up for email updates on when I post things there. See you next Wednesday!**


	5. Aunt Flo

**A/N: Just wanted to say again and one last time, this story has immature characters at times and is not to be taken as some kind of epic, deep story. If that's not your thing and you're not having fun with it like I am, no worries. Kindly remove your toys from this sandbox and move along to one more suitable to your tastes. As always, I don't own, I just play. With the best toys in the fucking playground ; )**

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><p>I changed into some sweatpants and pulled my hair up right after Paul left. There was no need to feel pretty now. I felt like Oscar the Grouch minus the huge eyebrows.<p>

I plopped down on the couch as Edward flipped through the channels on the television.

"I don't think I've ever seen you take off a dress so quick," he said.

"Shut. Up." I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest. "I didn't have a reason to impress anyone anymore." I grabbed my phone and tried to call Paul. It went straight to voicemail. Five times.

"By the way what was he talking about?" Edward asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What did you two exchange in the bedroom?" He set his chips down and rubbed his fingers on his pants. I scrunched my nose in disgust when I saw the grease lines on the material.

"None of your business."

"Oh I think it is, love. My name must have come up somewhere in there unless there's another Edward I don't know about."

_Oh your name did come up alright. Just as I was about to. _

"I don't want to talk about it." I grabbed a pillow and snuggled close to it, trying to avoid his inquisition.

I fell asleep watching cartoons on the couch with him and woke up the next morning in my bed with no recollection of how I got there. Maybe I had a sleepwalking habit. I saw a movie on Lifetime where someone got away with murder because they were sleep walking. I'd have to research that a bit more because there's someone in the next bedroom I'd love to smother with his Transformers pillow.

I got ready for work and headed out, feeling a little groggy and dealing with a headache the size of Edward's ego. By lunch time, my headache had gotten worse and to top it off there was this sharp, burning pain in my lower abdomen. If I didn't know better I would say I was...

"What's the date?" I asked Eleazer, frantically fingering across the calender.

"July 20th, sweetheart," he answered.

I sighed. That's why I felt so crappy. Aunt Flo was about to deliver her monthly gift. I can't believe I wasn't more prepared. It came like clockwork every month, around the twentieth. I must have been so stressed about my living situation that it must have slipped my mind.

I quietly slipped into the bathroom and took care of business, using the last of my supplies in my purse. I'd have to stock back up when I got home.

As the day passed, my cramps got more and more severe. Most of the time they were bearable, but every once in a while Mother Nature decided to take out all her frustrations on my uterus and they were almost too painful to stand. This was one of those times. My back hurt, my stomach hurt, my head was throbbing and I felt so tired I wanted to crawl up on the counter and fall asleep.

"You don't look so good Bella, are you okay?" Eleazer asked.

"I'll be fine," I breathed, trying my best to stand up straight. "Female problems." I nodded apologetically towards him as a customer approached the counter. "How are you today?" I asked them.

"Fine." They handed me their purchases and I started ringing them up. A sharp pain shot through me again and I doubled over the counter.

"Holy fuck!" I gasped.

"Excuse me?" The customer said.

I felt Eleazer step beside me and finish up with the customer as I cowered back into the chair. As soon as they were gone he reached for the phone.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Calling that girlfriend of yours that works at the naughty shop. You need to go home," he said. He started dialing as I protested.

"I can stay. It's just cramps."

"Sweetie, I had a wife and three daughters. I know what 'just cramps' means."

"I'm going to go to the bathroom." I hobbled into the bathroom while Eleazer called Alice. I sat in there for about ten minutes, just cursing my babymaker for being such a bitch.

When I came out, Eleazer had a glass of water waiting for me.

"Did you get ahold of Alice?" I asked.

"Yeah. She said she was the only one at the shop so she couldn't leave. She's sending someone to get you."

"Who's she sending?"

As soon as the question slipped from my lips, Edward burst through the door, his eyes wide with panic.

"Bella?" He rushed over to me. "Alice said you were sick, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine in a few days. I just need to go home."

"Okay. Let's get you back then. Do you need to go to the hospital or something?" He looked genuinely concerned, which was a change.

"No," I laughed under my breath. "I don't need a doctor."

He wrapped his arm around my waist and even carried my purse for me as he led me outside. He grabbed us a taxi and I couldn't help but cower into his side on the ride home. I felt like death.

When we got home, I went right to bed. I took a few aspirin and watched re-runs of Golden Girls. After a few hours, I retreated to the bathroom to change my downstairs business.

I leaned down and reached my hand into the cabinet, searching for my supplies. My hand pulled out a completely empty box and plastic bag. They were gone. How did I not realize I'd run out?

I rolled up some toilet paper for good measure and waddled outside. I hated asking him this. In fact on my list of things I never wanted to do, this was at the fucking top.

I knocked on his bedroom door, which was slightly open anyway. When he didn't say anything, I pushed the door open and peeked inside. He was sitting on his bed listening to music and reading a book.

"Edward?"

"Oh!" He slammed the book shut. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

"Like shit. Um...can you do me a favor?"

"Maybe?" He cocked his eyebrow.

"I need you to run to the store for me." Another cramp ripped through me and I held onto the door frame. "I mean I would go, but I..." I gestured towards myself.

"Sure. What do you need? Tylenol? Cold stuff?" He hopped off the bed.

"No..." I shook my head. "None of that. I need..." I lowered my voice like it was some type of secret. "I need...girl...stuff. If you know what I mean."

Realization dawned on his face and he gasped. "Are you fucking kidding me? Jesus, Bella I thought you were really sick!"

I clenched my fists at my sides. "Do you have a uterus Edward? No! So don't you dare tell me how this feels. Please do this for me."

He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot. "Fine. But you owe me. I didn't sign up for Tampon duty when I moved in."

"Thank you," I said. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"What do I get?"

"Just get anything. I'll make sure to stock up as soon as I feel better."

"Okay." He shoved his wallet in his back pocket and started towards the door.

I retreated back to my room and waited for him to get back. My head popped up as soon as I heard the front door open. He came right into my room, his arms full of bags. He dumped everything out on my bed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I didn't know what to get so I got it all," he said.

"You got it all?"

"Yeah. I'm not an expert in this, Bella. Wings, no wings, overnighters that look like Dr. Scholl's footpads, pearl applicators. You never really talked to me about this stuff in high school obviously so...I didn't know."

"Okay." I nodded. "Well thank you again. How much do I owe you?"

"It's on me. Just as long as I don't have to ever do that again. It's just not right."

"Okay." I managed a smile. "I promise you never have to do that again."

I got up and carried all my new supplies to the bathroom. I stocked up as much as I could underneath the sink before I slinked back to bed. I napped for a few hours, thankful that my cramps had subsided enough that I could even sleep. When I woke up, they were in full force again, wrapping all around my stomach to my back.

There was a knock on my door and Edward stuck his head in. "Hey how are you feeling?"

"I hurt," I whimpered.

He surprised me when he stepped inside and sat down on the edge of my bed. I held my breath as he lifted up the back of my shirt just enough to expose my lower back. He ran his fingers across it and started massaging my muscles. I winced as he ran over some sore spots and buried my head into the pillow.

"I called Alice to let her know what was going on," he said. "She's going to stop by after work and check on you."

"Thank you," I whispered.

He silently rubbed my back for the next half hour before he told me to roll over. He removed my hands from my stomach and ran his finger roughly over my lower stomach. My lady bits started tingling at his touch, which was a big surprise considering they were in a bit of a situation as it is. He was turning a so not sexy situation into something so sensual and I thought I was going to lose it.

He kept kneading lower and lower until he brushed across the top of my underwear. I whimpered as he rolled over a sensitive muscle.

"There?" He asked.

"Yeah." I closed my eyes and allowed my head to fall back against the bed.

He pressed harder again and I moaned under my breath. I didn't mean for it to sound so sexual, but it felt fucking amazing.

"You know I've always heard that sexual release cures cramps..." He murmured.

My eyes shot open and I saw him smirking like he always did when he made a sarcastic comment. I blushed and pushed his hand away from my stomach.

"It does," Alice said, suddenly popping into the room. "Why? Are you volunteering, Cullen?"

"No, are you?" He cocked his eyebrow.

"Could you guys please leave my sex life out of your witty banter?" I asked.

"Fine. We just got some new stock in at the store, I could always pick you up a new..." Alice started.

"No!" I interrupted. As far as I knew Edward had no idea where Alice worked and I wanted to keep it that way. I couldn't imagine what he'd say with that type of ammunition. It was terrifying.

"I'll take that as my cue to leave." He hopped off the bed and left the room.

"What the hell did I just walk in on?" Alice asked.

"Nothing. He was just being nice."

"He was about two inches away from Bella's love button."

"He was just trying to help." I shrugged.

Alice rolled her eyes and pulled out a bag of goodies, including more pain pills, ice cream and a heating pad. She heated it up in the microwave and brought it back to me. We shared the ice cream while the heating pad loosened up my muscles. By the time Alice left, I was feeling almost perfect.

I hadn't had them that bad in awhile. I guess I'd have to be better prepared next month. Hopefully that'd keep the pain away from my stomach and Edward away from the danger zone. Although I can't say I didn't enjoy it. I enjoyed it too much.

My head shot up as someone knocked on my door. Edward peeked his head in and pushed the door open. "I come in peace," he said. "I brought you some tea."

"Thank you." I reached out and took the cup from him. "That was really nice."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Okay well, goodnight." He waved, nodded and started towards the door.

"Goodnight, Edward."

There was something so new, yet so familiar about the way he was now. He was different, but I still felt like I knew him. Like maybe behind the surface, my Edward was still in there somewhere. I knew our breakup changed him. It changed almost everything I knew about myself. I started to hope that the very core of what made our relationship wonderful in high school was still there. Maybe we could be civil with each other. Maybe we could be nice to each other. Maybe we could be friends.

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><p><strong>Can they be friends? O.o<strong>

**Blown. Away. That's pretty much what I can be described as right now. I am so, so thrilled that you guys love this story. It makes me happy to no end that you're enjoying it. **

**Right now we're looking at around Chapter 11 for finding out everything that went down between them. **

**Also I wanted to thank Mandy aka "Squeaker" for making me an amazing banner for The Roommate. It's up on the blog and I've also added some new songs to the playlist : )**

**Also just wanted to give you a heads up, I am lucky enough to have The Roommate up for Fic of the Week soon over at The Lemonade Stand. I'll let you know when the poll is up and when you can start voting, but in the meantine go check out The Lemonade Stand anyway because I love those ladies (and now gentleman) and they have some AMAZING fic recs over there if you're looking for something to read.**

**See you next week! : )**


	6. Pinky Promise

**Update is a little early because I'm not sure of my schedule tonight/tomorrow, but I'm sure you don't mind ; ) I don't own, I just play.**

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><p>"Alice, I don't want to go out tonight..." I mumbled into the phone.<p>

"Bella. Aunt Flo has vacated the area and you haven't been out in a long time." She sighed. "I know how stressed you've been with this whole Edward situation and I just want you to have a good time."

I tapped my foot against the linoleum of our kitchen and peeked around the corner. Edward was sitting on his beanbag in the middle of the living room eating takeout. He turned his head towards me and stopped chewing. "What?" He asked, a noodle hanging halfway out of his mouth.

"Nothing." I retreated back into the kitchen. "But what about Edward?" I asked.

"What about him? He's your roommate, not your warden."

The moment she said warden, all I could think about was Edward with handcuffs. _Code red Bella, step away from the useless fantasies of the strange man in the next room. _"He's just..."

"Just what? If you're worried about keeping him occupied for the night, I'll bring Jasper with me. They can have a boys night while I get you laid."

"Alice. I do not need to be...laid."

"No? My mistake. Be ready at 8." She hung up before I could protest again. I grabbed my drink and headed out to join Edward in the living room.

"What did Alice want?" He asked.

"I guess she wants to take me out. And she's bringing you a playmate for the night."

"Please let it be Holly Madison," he said.

"I don't mean a Playboy playmate, I mean someone for you to hang out with." I glared at him and started watching television. "I didn't think you liked blondes..." I said absentmindedly as I kept my eyes on the television.

"I don't," he said. I turned towards him and he was looking right at me. "I'm more of a brunette kind of guy."

"Good to know. I'll send some brunette guys your way." I laughed and got up so I could start getting ready. I was low on options for clothing because I didn't really go out much, but I knew Alice would look beyond amazing. I didn't really care what people thought about me, but I wanted to avoid people calling me 'sir' with my sneakers on and my hair up in a hat. It only happened once, but it scarred me for life.

I pulled out one of the dresses Alice had gotten me for my birthday last year and laid it on my bed. I quickly showered and dried my hair before I started on my makeup. I closed the door most of the way so I could turn on my shower radio and not disturb Edward's episode of Ghost Adventures. Every now and then I noticed him coming into the kitchen and trying to peek inside the bathroom through the small sliver opening.

I started humming along to the song and before I knew it, I was full blown belting it out for Bathroom Idol. "I hate the world today, you're so good to me I know but I can't change," I sang. I leaned over the sink and put on some mascara and lipstick.

"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother..." A voice outside the door sang along. I cocked my eyebrow and pulled open the door a little. Edward was drinking right out of the milk jug, nodding his head to the beat. I tried to hide a smile, despite the fact that he was being utterly disgusting right now.

"What?" He put it back in the fridge and wiped at his milk mustache. "I like this song."

"Okay." I laughed and turned back to the mirror.

"I'm a bitch, I'm a tease, I'm a goddess on my knees..." I sang.

"You know you wouldn't want it any other way!" Edward screeched. I doubled over the sink in a giggling fit. He smirked and went back into the living room.

I finished my makeup and hair at exactly 7:58 so I had to hurry and get my dress on. I slipped into my bedroom and stepped into the dress. I reached around the back and started zipping it up. Unfortunately I'm not double-jointed or a circus contortionist, so it got stuck about halfway. I glanced towards my door, thinking of Edward out in the living room. _Should I?_

I sighed and cracked my door open a bit.

"Edward?" I called.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come here for a second, I need a little help."

I heard him get up and start towards my room. He knocked his knuckles lightly against my slightly opened door and pushed it open. I looked back at him over my shoulder and smiled. "Um...I can't get the zipper up." I blushed for some reason as I spoke and turned away from him so he wouldn't see.

"O-okay," he stuttered. He cleared his throat and shuffled towards me. I shivered as his fingers brushed against my spine and found the zipper. He struggled a little at first, but he eventually got it up. His hand lingered on my back for a moment before he stepped back. I turned around and pulled my hair over my shoulder.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're welcome." He tugged at his lower lip with his teeth, like he used to do when he was debating something in his head. "You look really nice"

"Thank you," I said again.

We both just stood there like silent idiots staring at each other because we didn't know what came after that. What does come after that? It wasn't like this situation had ever happened before between any two people on this earth, how the hell are we supposed to react? There's no _Chicken Soup for Living with Your Ex_ book. I guess it was good that we weren't killing each other right now, but this whole being nice thing felt weird.

A knock at the door startled us both and I brushed past him to answer it. I whipped it open and found Alice and Jasper standing there holding hands like the perfect barf-inducing couple.

"Hi." I waved and invited them in. Jasper kissed my cheek and smiled.

"Edward!" I yelled.

"Hiding in his room again?" Alice asked.

"No he's in mine." I gasped as soon as the words slipped out, knowing how bad that sounded. "I mean he helped me put on my dress..." That didn't make it much better.

"Hey Cullen!" Jasper yelled. He and Edward were pretty close back in high school, but the break up was very...polarizing. I didn't think they'd really spoken since then.

Edward came down the hallway and stopped as soon as he saw Jasper. "You son of a bitch!" He laughed. He smiled and shook his head. They did the man-hug and immediately dove into conversation like nothing had changed.

"Oh great. It's Jedward part two," I said.

"Let them have their little bromance thing for the evening. We'll do our thing. And hopefully you'll play with someone's thing by the end of the night!" She squealed and clapped. Jasper set down a large pack of beer on the table and handed one to Edward.

"Are you ready?" I asked, grabbing for my purse.

"One more thing." She stepped towards the boys. "Excuse me." She cleared her throat. "Edward, eyes on me. I need to make sure you understand the scrunchie system."

"Alice," I scolded. The thought of actually having sex with someone with Edward here was mortifying.

"I'm sorry, the scrunchie system?" Edward asked, kinking his eyebrow. He took a sip of his beer.

"Yes." Alice reached into her purse and pulled out three different colored scrunchies. "Green means interruptions welcome, we're just talking or making out. Yellow means emergency interruptions if necessary, there may be touching involved and one or more of us may be shirtless or pantless. Red is a no go zone, there's some serious business going down. Understood?"

"No. What is this for again?"

"It's for..." Alice started.

"Alice honey, why don't you and Bella get going." Jasper stood up and kissed Alice before ushering us out the door. "You two have a nice time and don't worry about us okay?" He shut the door, effectively kicking me out of my own apartment.

"Good now that it's settled. Let's go!" She grabbed my hand and carted me out of the building. We caught a cab fairly quickly and went to one of the new bars in town. I wasn't really into the whole wild party scene, but it was fun. Or at least it got more fun the more times I got my drink refilled.

"Bella," Alice whispered. Actually she thought she was whispering, but it was so loud that the two girls beside me looked at us weird. "That guy keeps looking at you."

"Alice, I'm not interested in picking up guys tonight. Can't we just have fun?"

"Fun is spelled p-e-n-i-s in my book. Can't you at least look at him? He's cute." She sipped on her drink and blatantly stared at him. I slightly turned my head and caught him smiling at me. Alice was right, he was pretty handsome. He was wearing a nice button up and had good teeth, which is a plus. I found myself smiling back at him before I returned to Alice and tried to look uninterested.

"He's okay."

"He's more than okay," she said.

"He's nice," I admitted.

"He's coming over." She giggled and straightened up in her seat. "Hi!" She looked over my shoulder and greeted the U.H.M., unidentified hot man.

"Excuse me ladies. I'm sorry to interrupt your evening, but can I get you guys a drink?" He asked.

"Well sir, I'm going to head to the ladies' room, but you can get my friend one." She hopped off her stool. "Her name's Bella." She gave me the thumbs up as she walked away and left me alone with him.

"Hi," I laughed. "Sorry she's a little drunk." I found myself staring at the little freckle on his forehead, right by his hairline. I blinked when it started getting fuzzy and morphing into new shapes. "I guess I'm a little drunk too," I admitted with a smile.

"I'm Seth," he said, holding out his hand. He seemed like a gentleman, opposed to the guys who would rather grab my ass than shake my hand. He pulled himself into Alice's seat and started asking me about myself.

Conversation with him was surprisingly easy, especially considering the environment. He listened to me while I talked, all while looking at me like he wanted to devour at the same time. We kept unconsciously leaning closer and closer to each other as we spoke and I told myself it was because it was so loud in here. I didn't mind his hand rested lightly on my thigh or his arm draped around the back of my chair. It was comfortable. It was nice. And a part of me almost wished it was Edward.

Seth leaned in close to my ear and smiled. "So how's your aim?" He whispered.

"My...aim? What do you mean?"

"I mean I just challenged you to a game of darts." He pulled back and nodded towards the dart boards across the room.

"I'm not sure I should be trusted with pointy objects..." I mumbled. He stood up and pulled me with him anyway. The next thing I knew, I had a dart in my hand and Seth at my side giving me tips. I threw my first dart and winced as it bounced off the wall and hit someone before plummeting to the ground. At least it wasn't the sharp side.

We played for the next half hour and he kicked my ass, but he was perfectly humble about it. He even bought me a shot after the game, which I really didn't need. I was going to pay for this tomorrow morning and I wasn't looking forward to it.

Seth and I were standing at the bar and suddenly we both stopped talking. It was like that moment before you realized someone wanted to kiss you. And maybe you wanted them to. Or maybe you just wanted someone to want you...because the one person you ever really wanted doesn't want you anymore. And you didn't realize how much that hurt until he unexpectedly came into your life...or your apartment.

I held my breath as Seth brushed a piece of hair from my face and ever so slowly leaned down, watching my reaction as he went. The moment his lips brushed against mine, Alice grabbed my arm in a panic.

"We have a problem," she said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"So I might have called Jasper to tell him we bagged a fox," she turned to Seth, "sorry." She turned back to me. "Anyway, Edward somehow got on the phone, screamed something that sounded like "Fuck scrunchies" and then I heard a door slam."

"Door slam as in they were leaving the apartment?" I squeaked.

"Yeah, they sounded really drunk."

I started chewing on my lip. "You don't think he'd..." I shook my head. "I mean you don't think he'd show up here, they don't know where we are..." I laughed, trying to reason with myself.

"Actually I think they might know."

"How?"

"Because as soon as Jasper answered the phone I said that we were at Fusion and Bella's getting laid." She turned to Seth again. "Sorry."

"I'm the fox who's getting laid I take it?" He asked, seemingly amused by our conversation as he took a drink.

"Yes. Well no. I don't know."

"Fancy seeing you two here!" I felt someone come up behind me and place their hand on the small of my back.

"Great," I sighed. I spun around in my chair to face Edward. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" He smiled. His eyes were red and I could tell he'd had more than a few beers. "Are we not allowed to come hang out with you guys?"

"I thought you were having a guys night in," I mumbled. He ignored me and turned to Seth. "I'm Edward."

"Seth," he said. They shook hands and I couldn't help but notice Edward's possessive stance around me. I think Paul noticed it too because he started to puff his chest out like he was a gorilla in the animal kingdom. I almost just told them to whip out their dicks so they could get this competitive male showdown over.

"So how do you know Bella?" Seth asked.

"Oh we go way back," Edward said.

"He's my roommate," I interjected.

Edward smiled wide, almost like he was trying to tell Seth that he sees me in my underwear or something. Which only happened that one time.

There was an incredibly long pause of awkward silence, except for the 50 Cent song playing in the background. Something about going to a candy shop. I started focusing on the lyrics instead of Edward and Seth's pissing match.

"Don't you think we should be getting home. It's late," Edward said, glancing at me. I looked around for Alice and Jasper and noticed them in the corner looking at me with a concerned expression. When I looked back at Seth, he was gone. I sighed when I saw him walking through the crowd.

"I'm a big girl Edward, I can stay out as late as I want to. And you're an asshole, you know that?" I started to get up to chase after him because I genuinely liked him. I think. Edward followed after me, just a few steps behind.

"So what are you going to do? You're going to just sleep with that guy because he's here?" He yelled over the music.

"Maybe!" I yelled back.

"It's a mistake!"

I turned around and poked him in the chest. "You don't get to decide that for me anymore Edward! Back. Off." I spun around and promptly lost my footing. As I plummeted towards the floor, I secretly wished I had Harry Potter's invisibility cloak because this was going to be embarrassing. I could tell.

I landed flat on my stomach and instantly almost vomited from the smell of the floor. I started to get up and tried to brush the sticky substance off my hands. I reminded myself to bathe in Purell when I got home.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked, gently grabbing hold of my arm.

"I'm...fine." I glanced over his shoulder when I noticed the bouncer coming towards us. Great. He's going to think I'm completely wasted.

"Miss, I'm going to need to ask you to leave," he said.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"I can't have you falling all over the bar. Go home and sleep it off."

"I'm not that drunk!" I yelled. "It was the shoes and whatever the hell is on your floor!"

The bouncer eyed me and glanced at Edward. "You know her?" He asked.

"Yes, sir," Edward answered.

"Get her out of my bar before I call the cops." The bouncer turned away and I started towards him, ready to tell him off again. Edward grabbed me around my waist and pulled me back to him.

"No," he said.

"He's a dick Edward!"

"Doesn't matter."

"But..." I struggled against him.

"No."

I tried again and he responded by hoisting me up and throwing me over his shoulder. The people around us started cheering and chanting as he carried me out of the bar with me slapping at his back the whole way.

"That doesn't hurt Bella," he said as he hailed a cab.

"I know, but it should." I finally gave up and just hung there as we waited. Alice and Jasper rushed out.

"What happened?" Alice asked.

"I got kicked out," I said.

"Nice," Jasper said, smiling. Alice smacked him on the chest.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I think I'm grounded." I nodded towards Edward.

Edward huffed and put me down. "You know what Bella? I was just trying to stop you from hating yourself tomorrow morning. You want to go make a fool of yourself, go ahead." He waved me off.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced at Alice. She mouthed "I'm sorry" and said that they were going to take off. They offered me a ride just as the cab pulled up. Edward got inside and closed the door.

"It's okay," I mumbled. I turned back to the cab and knocked on the window. Edward's eyes flickered my way and he hesitated a moment before he opened the door for me. I crawled silently inside and placed my hands in my lap as we took off.

Now that I was outside of the bar, the alcohol was starting to hit me hard. I rolled down the window and practically stuck my head outside because I felt like I was sweating.

"Hands, arms and heads inside please," the driver said. Edward reached over and gently pulled me inside before rolling the window up just enough so I couldn't do it again. I hated being this drunk, which is why I rarely ever did it. It was like rational Bella was being held prisoner inside my head watching drunk Bella be an idiot.

Edward paid the driver when we pulled up to the apartment building. I stumbled out of the cab and started towards the door. I kept reaching for the handle and missing it so Edward had to open it for me. He helped me up to our apartment and opened the door.

As soon as we were inside, he shrugged off his jacket and started towards the kitchen. "Sit down before you walk into a wall or something. I'm getting you some water."

I rolled my eyes at him and spotted his beanbag right where he'd left it in the living room. I smiled at how fluffy it looked. Fluffy and comfortable. I wanted to lay on it. I burped and hobbled over to it before plopping down. I moaned as I contorted myself until I was comfortable. I guess I can understand now why he loves the thing. It made me feel like I was floating on a lumpy, soft cloud.

"Bella?" Edward called, stepping into the living room. He spotted me and sighed. "You had to go with the beanbag huh?"

"Yep." I snuggled into it and smelled a strange mix of leather and Edward. It was divine. He sat down beside me, somehow managing to finagle both of us on the beanbag. He handed me the water and forced me to drink at least half of it before he'd take it back.

"Do you want to go to bed?" He asked.

"Not with you." I laughed at my own joke and closed my eyes.

"Damn it woman, you know what I meant."

My eyes shot open. _That_ word again. I fucking hated it. He obviously didn't care. Or he didn't realize he said it.

"No," I answered. "I want to stay here."

We laid there for a long time, sharing the beanbag in silence. When I finally opened my mouth, I wanted to punch drunk Bella in her face.

"What happened to us Edward? I mean besides..." I trailed off.

He took a deep breath. "We were both stupid...and young. I don't think we were ready for what we felt so we rebelled against it anyway we could."

"I didn't mean to..." I mumbled, half-asleep. "I didn't mean it Edward..." I told my eyes to stay awake, to talk to him about it, but they didn't listen. I woke up the next morning with Edward's arm uncomfortably draped over my face and my legs situated between his. I had no idea what possessed us to sleep like this, but it was a bad fucking idea. I felt like shit.

"Ugh," I moaned and lifted Edward's arm off me. He instantly woke and sat up.

"What the fuck?" He rubbed at his head and squinted into the morning light.

"That's what I said," I mumbled. I remembered bits and pieces of last night and I knew most of it was really bad or really embarrassing...or both. "I'm sorry I was so stupid last night."

He smiled apologetically. "Me too. I...overreacted a little."

"A little?"

"Can we just..." He

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><p>pinched the bridge of his nose. "If you're planning on having visitors...I don't want to know about it. Just tell me to go to Jasper's for the night, I don't want to know anything about it. And I don't want to be here. It's just weird for me okay?"<p>

"Okay." I nodded. "Ditto." I stuck out my pinky. "Promise?"

"Promise." He linked his pinky with mine just as I felt a wave of nausea rip through my body. I swallowed hard, but it came right back.

"I...have to go..." I shot up and ran towards the bathroom. I couldn't imagine how much of a bitch fit he'd have if I vomited on his beanbag. I pulled my hair back as I reached the toilet and wretched into it.

"Bella?" Edward chased after and followed me into the bathroom. "Oh God!" He choked. "You have to stop. You have to stop that, I can't listen to people throwing up it makes me do it."

"Then get out of the fucking bathroom!" I yelled. "I can't just stop you dumbass." I gagged and hurled again.

It was too late anyway. I was puking my guts out into the toilet. Edward was hurling into the garbage can beside me. It was one of the grossest things I'd ever experienced in my life.

When we were both finished, we got up and brushed our teeth together in silence. After that, we retreated to our rooms without another word and slammed our doors behind us.

And we were back to Edward and Bella again. Forget the nice moment like we'd just had. Forget the pinky promises. We were yelling at each other and at each other's nerves just like that. I started to wonder if that was all we were ever destined to be.

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><p><strong>AN: Hope you all have had a fantastic week. Just a short announcement. The wonderful people over at The Lemonade Stand have nominated The Roommate for Fic of the Week. There's a poll with some pretty heavy competition over at their site and I'd really appreciate your vote for The Roommate and the other stories you love. You can check out the poll at: www . tehlemonadestand . blogspot . com or the link on my profile : )  
><strong>


	7. Killer Clown

**I don't own. I just play : )**

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><p>We didn't speak for the next week, except for the occassional greeting. It was almost like we didn't know how to process our almost-there bond from the night at the bar. I can't say I was happy about him throwing me over his shoulder like some crazy Tarzan, but I guess I understand why he did it. Even though I didn't want to admit it, Edward still seemed to know me pretty well even though I'm not the same person I used to be. The thought that he can see right through me scared the shit out of me. I didn't like him having that type of power.<p>

"Hey," I mumbled as I walked in the door. I was feeling exhausted from a long day at work. I hated getting home after dark, but whenever we got a new shipment of books I usually had to stay late to stock.

"Hi," Edward said, keeping his eyes on the television.

I sighed and went back to my bedroom. This whole silence gig was driving me nuts. I didn't think I was ready to have a philosophical debate with him or anything, but I was starting to talk to my plants. That's an issue for me. A big one.

I pulled on a tank top and shorts before deciding to make the first move. I grabbed a blanket and shuffled out to the living room.

"What are you doing?" I asked, plopping on the couch beside him.

"I think I'm going to watch this new action movie on TV. It's called 'Fist Smash' or something like that?" He flipped through a couple of channels.

"What's it about?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Something about...fists...smashing."

"Okay." I leaned back. I could handle this. I wasn't a huge fan of action movies, but I could deal. Maybe he'd take it as my white flag of surrender that I was willing to sit through something as ridiculous as this movie sounded.

I knew I was not going to last before the credits even ended. I sighed in annoyance and hugged a pillow tight to my chest.

"Problem Princess?" He asked, cocking his eyebrow.

"Do we really have to watch this?"

"No, you don't have to watch this." He turned back to the screen as someone punched their fist through a wall.

"That's totally believable," I said, rolling my eyes.

"And what do you propose we watch?"

"I could go for a comedy right now. Although with how tacky this is, I would almost consider it one."

He laughed and shook his head, failing to acknowledge my suggestion. Maybe if I could just get a hold of the remote...

I shifted my eyes slightly to the space between us, looking for it. I noticed it right by his leg and noted that this could go a few ways. I could miss and grab him instead. I could grab the remote and he would attack. Or I could grab the remote and run away. I bit down on my lip as I contemplated. This would have to be a Chuck Norris move if there ever was one, but it had to be done. I don't even think Chuck himself would caught in a movie like this. It actually made me want to watch a Steven Segal movie.

I cleared my throat and kept watching the remote. I held my breath and in one swift move reached for the remote. I smiled to myself when I felt my fingers wrap around it. My smile faded when I felt Edward's fingers wrap around my wrist.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He asked.

"It's mine!" I tugged it towards me.

"I was here first!" He tugged back as I wrapped both hands around it and started pushing my legs against his chest for leverage. "Bella! No!" His face started turning red as he tugged against me. He pulled so hard that I flew towards his chest, pushing him back onto the couch. Somewhere in the scuffle the remote slipped through the couch cushions and I was left straddling him for no reason with my face inches from his.

I tried to say something, but no words came out. I couldn't move. Mostly because my thighs were at his hips right now and even though I hated admitting it, they liked it there. In fact they were thinking about purchasing a timeshare there to vacation every now and then. I squeezed them together and I swore he arched his hips up to mine. My breath hitched in my throat as I struggled for something to say.

"I didn't...I didn't mean to," I stammered.

"Me neither." His voice was completely calm even though we may or may not have just dry thrusted each other. He was breathing really hard and I couldn't help but notice how it moved me up and down over his body.

"Edward," I whispered. It was a warning to both of us. This was going somewhere fast and we needed to put the brakes on it right away or we were going to crash and burn. I didn't stop him as he inched up closer to me. He glanced down at my lips and licked his, but I didn't move. I could have done a million things. Pulled away. Slapped him. Start screaming my head off. I did nothing. I just sat there and waited for him to kiss me. _Man I wanted him to kiss me_.

"I've got a large package for you," a male voice said. Something didn't sound right. Something in his voice was...dirty.

"I've got the perfect slot for you baby," a woman whimpered. I wrinkled my nose and turned my head towards the television just in time to see a guy dressed in a UPS suit whip out his dick. Of course the remote switched it to porn. Why the hell couldn't it switch it to 'Everybody Loves Raymond' or 'Two and a Half Men'? I know Charlie Sheen is a whack job, but I'd rather watch him than see this blonde bimbo get her package delivered.

I shot up before Edward's lips reached mine and started flailing. I fell off the couch and landed with a thud on the floor. Before Edward could even think about helping me up, I scrambled to my feet and mumbled something about "explosive diarrhea" before rushing to the bathroom. I realized on the journey down the hallway that I could have thought of something better and less embarrassing, but it was too late to go back now. I had to get out of there.

I slammed the bathroom door shut and released the breath I was holding. "What the fuck just happened?" I whispered to myself. I started pacing back and forth in the bathroom, tugging at my hair and trying to piece everything together. The problem was the pieces didn't fit. It was like I had a million puzzle pieces from different puzzles. It just didn't work. The vag mutiny was in full force again. I'd have to get her in check because I could tell she was going to get me in trouble.

When my head stopped spinning, I quietly opened the door and slipped into the kitchen. I grabbed myself a glass of water and cautiously peeked into the living room. Edward was sitting up on the couch again, remote in hand.

"Everything come out okay?" He asked. I retreated back into the kitchen and finished my glass of water in silence.

I finally returned to the couch and cleared my throat. "I just want you to know that I did not have...explosive diarrhea."

"I know." He laughed quietly to himself.

"Now what are you watching?" I asked, trying to avoid any conversation about what had just happened on this couch. I felt like it was tainted now. Maybe I should give it a Viking funeral and set it on fire as it floats down the river.

"It's one of the new horror movies. It's supposed to be pretty good." He glanced my way. "I figured it was a compromise."

"How is this even remotely close to a comedy?"

"Well, I figured since I...did some shopping for you recently, it should lean in my favor a little. And besides, clowns are kind of funny."

"They're fucking creepy and you know that I hate them." I pointed my finger at him.

I grabbed a blanket and moved to the end of the couch, the farthest possible from him. I barely watched half of the movie because I was too busy hiding behind my blanket. I was never a big fan of scary movies. Alice and I usually ended up huddled in a corner together with a tennis racquet for the rest of the night. I figured since Edward was here, I'd be okay. Not that I wanted him to protect me or anything but I could at least sacrifice him to the serial clown killer who was going to break into our apartment later.

"Well that was fun," Edward said when the movie was over. He flipped off the television and said he was going to bed. I sighed and checked the locks on the door and windows before shuffling down the hallway to my bedroom.

I turned on my light beside my bed and settled into bed. Even with the light on, my eyes started shifting around the room and I could feel the goosebumps flush over my skin. _Why did I watch that fucking movie?_

I glanced at my closet and could have sworn I saw something move in the darkness. I knew my eyes were just playing tricks on me, but it didn't stop my heart from racing. I finally fell asleep somehow, but it didn't last long. I shot straight up from my sleep, panting and caked in sweat. I knew I'd been having a nightmare, but that wasn't what woke me. I could have sworn I just heard something out in the hallway.

"Edward?" I called softly. I took a deep breath and got out of bed, taking my blanket with me. I tiptoed across the floor and counted to three before opening the door. I peeked my head out into the darkness and listened. I was about to close it and tell myself to stop being such an idiot when I heard a loud creak somewhere. I yelped and hightailed it towards Edward's room. I crashed through his door and jumped on his bed, pulling the blanket all around me.

"What the fuck!" He yelled. I felt him sit up in his bed and turn on the light. "Bella?" He started pulling at the blanket that was engulfing me. "What are you doing?"

"I heard something."

"Don't be ridiculous. That movie just freaked you out. It's an apartment building, it's not going to be silent all the time."

"I heard creaking in the apartment, Edward." I was on the verge of tears even though I knew I was being stupid.

"Do you want me to go check for monsters in your closet?" I could almost see the smirk on his face as he spoke.

"Clowns. And the living room and bathroom please."

"God, woman," he said as he crawled out of bed. I was too scared to even be irritated by him. "Pain in the ass."

I popped my head out of my blanket and watched him walk into the darkness. I heard him walk around the apartment, flipping on lights and checking for killer clowns. I assumed when he returned unharmed that the apartment was clean.

"There's nothing out there, Bella," he said. Another creak echoed from somewhere and he jumped about ten feet in the air and lunged for the bed. I threw my blanket over the both of us and held my breath.

"See I told you," I whispered.

"And how is this blanket going to save us?"

"Because we are now invisible," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. A smile played on his lips as he nodded.

"Okay. Invisible."

I couldn't help but laugh at myself, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. "Don't laugh at me." I punched him in the shoulder. "You jumped."

He rolled over onto his back and rested his arms behind his head. "No more killer clowns for us I guess."

"Exactly," I sighed. I turned my face slightly towards him and took a deep breath. "Can I stay in here tonight?"

"Yeah." He pushed the blanket off of us. "You can stay." He reached up and pulled a pillow down for me before getting back in bed. I curled up at his feet with his pillow and my blanket and slept better than I thought I would. Maybe it was because I was closer to the window. Most people think that's a point of entry, but I see it as an escape route. As soon as killer clown bursts through the door, I'll be ready for him. I just hope the fire escape is ready for me.

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><p><strong>Thanks again for your amazing responses and your support! And I hope you don't ever have explosive diarrhea. <strong>

**A couple of announcements:**

**The Roommate was voted as a Fic of the Week over at TLS. You can find the review and the reviews for the other wonderful fics up on their website a little later this week so make sure to check those out.**

**I'm going to be involved in "Junkin for Joplin", an auction for the victims of the terrible tornado in Joplin. I'll be donating an outtake from Love Like Winter, The Roommate, Code of Conduct or Game, Set, Match. The winning bidder gets to choose ; ) I'll put the link for their Facebook on my profile page. Once you join the group, check out the photo album because that's going to tell you what's up for bid. Once bidding options just "comment" a bid on the photo of what you want. There are also further instructions on the group page. My best advice for auctions is to band together and bid in a group, whatever you're bidding for. You're more likely to win. There's some great things up for auction, so I hope you'll consider bidding. Thanks : )**


	8. Clean Up

**I don't own, I just play. Thanks again ImHereToReview for your endless wisdom!**

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><p>It was one of the good dreams. The ones before we broke up. The ones where we were the perfect couple and I was happy. It was a welcome change from the last one I'd had and I couldn't say I was complaining about it.<p>

I was standing along the fence of the football stadium with my father, watching Edward play in his last football game. It wasn't typical, the star quarterback dating anyone but a cheerleader. I saw the looks they all gave me, almost like I was in a different league and completely unacceptable for him. But he never treated me different. Edward always saw me behind all the bullshit, even when we were fighting. I glanced over at the marching band and smiled at Alice as she twirled her baton to one of their songs. She was the best damn baton twirler Forks High had ever seen and she was my best friend.

"Edward's playing a heck of a game, huh?" Charlie nudged me with his elbow and smiled. He and Edward actually got along pretty well, once they got to know each other. I guess every father is a little hesitant when their only daughter starts dating, but they seemed to find common ground with the fact that I regularly did things that pissed them off and despite their love for me, they loved to bitch to each other about it.

"Yeah." I was beaming. I rested my elbows on the fence and searched for him on the field. Number 15. The hot guy with the football. They were huddled by the goal line, right in front of where Charlie and I were standing. It was one of those movie moments where you're down by five points and its your last chance to score.

"You got it, Cullen!" I screamed. He raised his head and looked over at me. I blushed and turned away, trying to hide it from my dad.

Edward leaned in and said something to the guys once more before they broke and lined up. On his count, the center launched the ball back at Edward and he frantically looked around the field for an open man. I held my breath the whole time, especially when I realized no one was open. Not a damn guy.

"Run it babe!" I yelled. He tucked the ball under his arm and jumped over the two tackled guys in front of him. He darted to the left, to the right and stumbled across the goal line without a single person touching him. The crowd erupted in applause and were instantly on their feet as they added our points to the board. We won. We won it all.

The student section stormed the field and I half-contemplated jumping the fence, but I knew that would end in disaster and ripped pants so I decided against it. I kept popping up on my toes looking for him in the crowd, but I didn't see him.

"Looking for someone?" His voice was ragged behind me as I felt him wrap his arms around my waist.

"Yeah I was looking for the quarterback actually, I heard he's kind of cute."

Edward's breathless laugh filled my ears as he picked me up and somehow slung me on his back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled at my dad.

"Hell of a game kid." Charlie held out his hand and shook Edward's.

"Thanks. We'll see you later Charlie." He took off before Charlie could get another word in. Edward carried me out onto the field where everyone was still celebrating.

"You didn't have to do that..." I said.

"Do what?" He asked.

"Come and get me. I mean you could have just..."

"But you're my woman. I want you here." He smiled and I leaned down and kissed his sweaty neck.

"Edward!" Lauren ran up to us in her little cheerleader skirt and narrowed her eyes at me. "There's a bonfire at the beach later! Are you going?"

"Yeah sure." He turned his head towards me. "Babe you wanna go?"

I was about to speak, but I was interrupted by Miss Perky.

"Actually...it's kind of an exclusive party. You know...for cheerleaders and the players." She looked an me and tried to fake sympathy. "Sorry Bella."

I glared at her and was about to tell her to go fuck herself, but Edward spoke instead.

"Look Leslie," he said. I buried my head into his back and laughed. He knew her name, he was just fucking with her. "You should probably understand something. You say this party is exclusive right?"

"Right," she said slowly.

"Well, I will only attend this party if Bella is with me...exclusively. So do you want us there or not?"

"Yes," she sighed.

"Alright. Maybe we'll see you later then." He gave her a sarcastic wink and walked us away.

After everyone cleared out the field, we stopped at the local pizza place with Alice and Jasper. By the time we made it to the party, it was in full force.

"Are you sure you're okay with going?" Edward asked as we pulled up.

"Yeah it's fine." He was the quarterback and even though he wasn't like most of these people, I knew it was important that he at least made an appearance.

He took my hand as we walked up to the large group of people. Lauren was right. Mostly cheerleaders and football players. The couple that Edward was closer with talked to me, but for the most part I was ignored by everyone except my boyfriend.

I had a couple of beers, but not enough to get me drunk. Edward had enough to know I'd be driving home.

I was trying to make conversation with one of the nicer looking cheerleaders, but she was too dominated by the bitches to really give me the time of day.

"Bella!" Edward yelled.

"Edward?" I turned around and looked for him.

"Come here, I need to tell you something." I realized his voice was coming from somewhere over by where we had parked so I followed it until I found him. He was leaning against his car, smirking a smirk that made my knees buckle.

"What do you have to tell me?" I asked. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him.

"You're really, really sexy. And I love you."

"I love you too." I smiled and buried my head in his chest.

"So I'm not sexy?" He teased.

"No not at all," I lied, shaking my head dramatically.

"No?" He leaned down and kissed my neck. "Now?"

"Nope," I sighed.

"Now?" His hands slipped down to my ass and squeezed.

"Not even a little bit."

I gasped when he swung me around and pressed me up against his car. He knelt down in front of me and pulled my shirt up a little before leaning forward and slowly swirling his tongue just below my belly button. He kissed up my stomach and over my breasts through the fabric until he reached my lips. His hands slipped under my shirt and roughly palmed my boobs.

"Okay, that's a little sexy," I whimpered.

I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pushed me harder against the car, rubbing his hips to mine. I felt his dick hard, straining in his jeans and I wanted to touch it. It was like one of those pieces in a museum that has the "Do Not Touch the Exhibit" sign under it. I wanted it so bad I was practically drooling all over myself.

"Car," I mumbled against his lips. He fumbled with the door handle behind me and finally got it open. I crawled inside and instantly pulled him with me. My shirt and bra was off in a second and I was reaching for his pants. We performed some fucking acrobatics trying to get each other naked, but we finally made it.

"Just so you know...I'm not fucking you in the back of my car...not our first time okay? Don't be nervous, I'm not going to push it." He breathed, brushing his lips over my skin.

"Okay." I nodded. We'd been together for a long time, but we've decided to wait until we're both ready. Both of us were virgins and we promised each other that we'd be each other's first. It seemed a little odd with how hormonal and crazy we were for each other, but we'd managed to make it through.

He slipped his fingers inside me and I arched my body towards him. Knowing us, he'd have me screaming and writhing beneath him in no time.

I reached down for his dick and was happy to find it resting against my stomach. I wrapped my hand around it and started moving it up and down against his length. He moved his hips against me, meeting my movements as his fingers buried themselves deep inside me over and over again. I moaned loudly as a group of people walked by the car. We both froze and Edward reached up to cover my mouth. I looked up behind me and was relieved to find that we'd already fogged the windows up enough that you couldn't see through them. The group must have stopped nearby because I could still hear them talking and carrying on.

"You have to be quiet, woman." He smirked and started pumping his fingers again, keeping his hand over my mouth. It took me a moment to regain my composure, if that was even possible, before I started massaging him again. His brow furrowed as he picked up the pace with both his fingers and his hips. My breath came out ragged and strained against his hand. He bit down on his lip, holding in a groan as I felt him pulse in my hand. I followed moments after, screaming out into his skin. It must have been too loud. Someone pounded on the roof of the car and started laughing before they screamed "Get a room!"

Edward laughed under his breath and kissed the tip of my nose. "I love you. Let's go meet Jasper and Alice, this party's lame."

We were smiling the whole time we struggled to get our clothes back on. Somehow my bra had ended up hanging from the rearview mirror and I forced him to grab it for me. After we were both presentable, I hopped in the driver's seat and Edward called Jasper to see what they were up to. We ended up in Alice's driveway, getting ready to go hang out with them in her basement.

"Hold on a sec." Edward grabbed my hand before I could get out of the car. "I want to talk to you about something. Seriously."

"What is it? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I just want to let you know that I'm serious about what I said back in the car. We can wait as long as we want...until we both feel we're ready. I love you enough to wait."

I held back the tears and leaned over to kiss him. "You're not like the other guys, you know that?"

"I know."

He kissed me again before we both hopped out of the car. He reached for my hand as we walked inside. "I won't lie though, I jack off to you all the time."

I laughed and slapped his chest. "Thanks for the visual."

Alice asked me all about the party and I told her it was okay. I didn't want to hurt Edward's feelings, I knew he was kind of friends with those people.

"It sucked," Edward admitted.

"Good to know. We thought about coming at the end of it."

"I did." He winked at me and I was completely mortified. Stupid, embarrassing, hot boyfriend.

Before the dream version of me could respond, I woke up and realized I was back in Edward's room, curled up at the end of his bed. I rolled over, sighing in disgust when I felt something crunch under the weight of my body. I sat up and looked down to find a bag of probably now broken chips beneath me.

"Fucking chips," I whispered. "Edward?" I whipped towards the bed, expecting to find him still passed out, but it was empty.

"What?" He stepped into the room with a bowl of cereal and his cell phone in his head.

"We're going to get ants if you keep leaving food in your bed." I nodded to the bag of chips.

"There those are." He reached forward and snatched them. "I've been looking for those for like three days." He laughed to himself and took a big gulp of his cereal. "By the way, my parents called. They're coming over to take me out to dinner."

"They're coming here?" I asked.

"Yeah. Mom wants to see the apartment."

My heart started racing. I hadn't seen Edward's parents for years and for all I know they hated me. Even if they didn't know the details of our breakup, I was teh reason he left town after it. Esme probably wants to throw me out the window and then complain about how terrible my housekeeping skills are.

"Speaking of..." I said to myself. I crawled out of bed and walked out into the living room with new eyes. "Oh God..."

It was like I was seeing everything with new eyes. Rings on the coffee table, plates and takeout boxes everywhere, something pink and sticky on the carpet. This place is fucking disgusting.

"Oh God..." I said again, really starting to panic. Thankfully I had the day off today so I could clean, but who knows if this place is even salvagable. It's like my almost non-existent domestic side had completely disappeared and Hurricaine Edward had left a devestating trail of damage. How was I supposed to fix this?

"Why does your face look like that?" Edward asked as he joined me in the living room.

"Like what?"

"Like you're trying to birth a child."

I sighed and crossed my arms. "My face looks like this because the apartment is a mess and you just told your parents it was okay to come over."

"So?"

"So they're going to think I'm a slob!"

"They already know I'm a slob so it's okay. You can just blame it on me."

"I already am blaming it on you, but that doesn't make it better." I leaned down and started picking at the sticky stuff on the floor. "What is this?"

"You know sometimes when you're talking and your gum falls out of your mouth..." He started. I pulled my hand back and screamed.

"Gross! You pick that up. I'm going to start on the rest of it." I went into the kitchen and grabbed a garbage bag. By the time I was throwing away all of the shit in the living room, it was already full. I picked up a pile of Edward's sweatpants and shirts that had somehow ended up in a mountain over by his beanbag. It was like he was trying to burrow in a fucking nest or something.

"Are these clean?" I asked, heading towards his room.

"I don't know, smell them!" He yelled from the living room.

"I'm not smelling your clothes." I threw them down on his bed and retreated back to the living room. Edward was sitting cross legged on the floor by the gum, scraping and picking at it.

We both chipped in for the rest of the day, tidying up the apartment. We shared the bathroom duty. I cleaned out the sink and bathtub, since my hair was most likely the thing making them all gross and clogged. Edward took the toilet because...well you know.

We were down to the kitchen and the heaping mountain of dishes sitting in the sink. We glanced at each other and shrugged.

"I'll wash, you dry?" He suggested.

"Deal. How much time do we have?"

"Probably around an hour or so."

"Let's do it."

We started on the dishes, working like a well-oiled machine. Wash. Dry. Wash. Dry. Peeking at Edward's arms. Swooning over Edward's muscles. Dying over the water splashing on his shirt. I was starting to notice how filled out he was. He was always in shape in high school, but this was different. This was like...manly muscles. He wasn't chubby, just thick and fucking beautiful. Apparently my dream from this morning was affecting Edward's affect on me. More than usual anyway.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I wasn't paying attention as I reached for the dish Edward was handing me. It slipped between my fingers and splashed into the gross dish water. It attacked Edward like a fucking monsoon, leaving him completely soaked with his jaw wide open.

"What the fuck was that?" He asked.

"Sorry," I winced.

"Sorry, eh?" He nodded slowly and reached for the sprayer. Before I could react, he pointed it at me and pulled the trigger. A shot of cold water hit me square in the chest and squirted onto my face.

"Stop!" I squealed, reaching blindly for him. He started laughing and held the sprayer over my head, too high for me to reach. I reached up and grabbed his shoulder so I could get more leverage, but it just made it worse and I slipped, pulling him down to the floor with me.

We both landed on the soaking wet floor, dripping in water and soap. Edward was still laughing and I was pissed because I felt like a drowned rat. This could not be fixed in time for his family. I wanted to at least look presentable.

Edward propped himself up on his elbows and smiled at me. "Now everything's clean."

I narrowed my eyes at him and he must have taken it as a threat. He was suddenly on top of me, holding me down to the ground with the sprayer in perfect position to get me again.

"Don't!" I squeaked. I whipped my arms over my eyes and waited for the water. It never came. I slowly pulled my arms away from my face. His eyes were fixed on my shirt, wide and captivated by something. I started to look down and was interrupted by a quick knock at the door. _Fuck._

"They're early," I said, completely panicked. I'm not ready. I'm not ready for this. I used to think these people were going to be my in-laws and then I broke their son's heart. Oh God. What if they know I hurt him? They have to know right?

Edward must have noticed my paralyzed body, lying stiff on the floor. I didn't even realize he'd stood up and was hovering above me. "You okay?"

"N-n-no." I shook my head. "I'm not okay. What if they hate me?"

"They've always loved you." He bent down and pulled me up off the floor. He rubbed his hands up and down on my arms and sighed. "They don't know, Bella," he said, almost like he was reading my mind. He leaned in and surprised me when he kissed my cheek. "Everything will be okay, I promise."

And then he was gone. He moved across the dining area and to the front door. He whipped it open just as I turned around. I heard his mother's laughter and his father's greeting. I held my breath as they walked inside. They both looked the same. His mother was unnaturally gorgeous and his father was handsome as ever. I cleared my throat and waited for them to notice me.

"Oh!" Esme said, showing a slight smile. I couldn't tell if it was fake or not. "Bella. Lovely to see you honey."

"Hi Esme."

Carlisle smiled and nodded at me. "So this is the place?"

"This is it," Edward said.

"Well show us around and then we can go eat."

"Bella, would you like to join us?" Esme asked.

"Oh no. I wouldn't want to intrude..." I shook my head.

"Not an intrusion at all. We'd love to see you, it's been so long," Carlisle said. 'Why don't you go...change your clothes and get ready and we'll wait for you?"

I caught Edward looking at my shirt again. He finally cleared his throat and started talking to his parents as I retreated to my room. As soon as I closed the door, I spotted myself in my mirror and almost screamed. My shirt was almost completely see through from the water. I could probably win a wet t-shirt contest with the way it looked and to be completely honest, my nipples were hard as shit. My bra wasn't doing anything to keep those puppies down. I can't even imagine how this looked to them. Actually I know exactly how it looked and now Edward would be forced to drag me from my room to go out to dinner with these people because I was not going. Edward's dad practically saw my tits. That's a problem.

I pulled on some dry clothes and sat down on my bed. Edward eventually knocked on my door and peeked his head inside.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"You could have told me I looked like Miss Spring Break '98 Edward!"

"It wasn't that bad."

"It was."

"They didn't see." He smiled. "Please go out to eat with us. You can even get dessert."

"I don't want it."

"They have cheesecake." He cocked his eyebrow.

"Okay fine." I stood up and crossed the room. "But your dad saw my nipples. Don't lie to me."

"Okay maybe a little." He laughed as we headed out to the living room. I was met with the stone cold faces of his parents and I was becoming more and more convinced that they hated me. His mother smiled.

"So glad you could join us, Bella," she said.

Yep. They fucking hated me.

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><p><strong>A little early update today, but I'm really busy later so I didn't want to make you guys wait : )<strong>

**So who's ready for a date with Momma and Papa Cullen? I'm pretty excited.**

**A couple people have asked again how old they are: they're a few years out of college. I don't always have time to answer reviews with questions especially if I'm viewing from my phone, so check back in the author's notes of previous chapters because I may have already answered them.**

**If you didn't check it out already, go read the review for The Roommate on The Lemonade Stand (TLS) There's a link to their blog on my profile.**

**I'll be donating an outtake for the Junkin for Joplin fundraiser so if you're interested in seeing Edward's trip to the store or Jedward's night in, make sure to search for their group on Facebook and join for more details on how to bid.  
><strong>

**Lastly, a bit of possible bad news. My laptop is in the crapper...or almost in the crapper. It's been totally unreliable lately and I'm hoping I'll be able to get it fixed but please know that its not doing well and may cause a delay in updating for both stories. If you follow me on twitter, I'll make sure to keep you updated about it so you can know. Again my twitter name is MandyLeigh010**

**Thanks for reading and have a great week! : )**


	9. Meet the Parents, Again

**I don't own, I just play. Thanks ImHereToReview for being my prereader! Go read her stories : )**

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><p>I cowered unconsciously into Edward's side as we walked through the restaurant doors with his parents. I thought I felt him place his hand on the small of my back, but just as soon as it was there it was gone again.<p>

"Relax, woman," he whispered. I narrowed my eyes at him for his language and made a mental note to start charging him a dollar every time he used it. My parent's made a lot of money off of me using that system. Apparently I was a four year old with the mouth of a sailor. Granted my punishment was time out minutes or getting toys taken away, but is the same principle.

"One dollar," I mumbled.

"What?" He asked.

His father stepped up to the podium at the front of the restaurant and started speaking to the host.

"How many in your party?" The host asked.

"Four."

The host grabbed some menus and mumbled a "right this way" as we followed him back through the tables. He finally stopped and set the menus down before letting us know that our server would be right with us.

Dr. Cullen pulled his chair out for Mrs. Cullen and Edward strangely did the same for me. He was acting different around his parents. I mean he was the same screwball that he usually was, just a little more muted. It was almost like a real gentleman existed beneath the surface.

"Good evening, my name is Heidi and I'll be your server." The waitress stepped up to our table and smiled. She was obviously looking for a big tip. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"I'll have a glass of wine," Esme said.

"That sounds good for me as well." Dr. Cullen smiled at the Heidi and turned to Edward.

"Um…I'll have a beer." Edward nodded and started perusing through the menu. "Heineken."

"And for your wife?" She looked to me.

"I…." My eyes widened in a panic and shot from Edward to his parents and back to Edward. "I'm not married to him," I stuttered.

"We're not married." Edward turned to her with a wide grin on his face and tried not to laugh.

"Oh I'm sorry. What can I get you ma'am?" Heidi asked. _I'm too young to be a ma'am, missy._

"I'll take a beer too. Whatever you have is fine."

"Alright I'll need to see I.D's from both of you." She smiled and leaned over Edward. I was fairly sure he could see right down her shirt and she didn't seem to mind. _Hussy_.

Edward and I handed her our driver's license. She left and quickly returned with all of our drinks. I think I downed half of the bottle in my first sip. I was so fucking anxious.

"So, Bella. What have you been up to…since high school?" Esme asked. "I see your father from time to time around town, but we never do anything more than wave to each other."

"I graduated from college." I cleared my throat. "I work in a bookstore."

"It's a pretty amazing bookstore," Edward said. "You should see her, she's smart as hell. Knows every book in the damn shop."

"I do not." I shook my head.

"You do."

"Well that's lovely, dear." Dr. Cullen smiled and took a sip of his wine. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

There was an uninterrupted mass of awkward silence as we all stared at each other across the table. I noticed that my hands had started massacring the poor, helpless napkin that sat in my lap. Tear. Tear. Rip. Shred.

"No," I said softly. "I don't."

I couldn't tell if they were genuinely interested in my life or trying to lead me to an early death because my heart was racing a million miles a minute and they'd only asked me two questions. If this was anything like my third grade spelling bee I'd be peeing my pants and muttering incoherently any second.

I finished my first beer before Miss Tits came back to take our order. She went through everyone else before she paused at me. She cocked her eyebrow and glanced down at my lap. "Do you need a new napkin as well?"

Four pairs of eyes joined hers on my lap, where a large pile of shredded napkin lay.

"Habit," I mumbled. I scooped up all of the pieces and set it in a neat pile beside my drink. "Can I just get another beer and I'll have the Cesar Salad." I handed her my menu and sighed.

Edward slipped his arm across the back of the booth and leaned in close. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Fine," I squeaked.

Heidi returned quickly with my drink and told us our food should be out shortly. Edward and his parents chatted while I drank and tried to sound out the crazy name of whatever beer she gave me. Hefewisen. Hefeweesen. "Hefe.." I whispered.

"Hefeweizen. You pronounce the w like a v," Dr. Cullen said.

"Thanks." I smiled as Heidi showed up with our food. She handed out my plate last and leaned over Edward again.

"Excuse my reach," she said. She set the plate down in front of me and not so accidentally knocked my beer over right into my lap.

I screamed and scrambled to pick up the bottle before the whole thing decided to saturate my underwear, but it got me pretty good. My mutinous vag was about to become a drunk one.

"Oh I'm so so sorry," Heidi said. "Let me get you another beer. On the house. Would you like a towel?"

"No thank you." I cleared my throat and turned towards Edward. "Bathroom." He scooted out of the booth and allowed me to exit. "Excuse me for just one sec."

I waddled the rest of the way to the bathroom almost like I really had peed my pants. I went into one of the stalls and peeled my soaked pants and underwear down my legs. I grabbed dubious amounts of toilet paper and blotted as much as I could. I half contemplated putting them under the hand dryer but that would require me going pantsless and this seemed like a pretty fancy establishment to me.

I sat in there for a good ten minutes trying to figure out what my next move was. I heard the door swing open and jumped when someone knocked on my stall door.

"Bella? It's Esme."

"Uh….hi."

"I just ran out to the car. I have some yoga pants from my session earlier today. If you don't mind wearing them, you're welcome to. At least they're dry." She swung the pants over the top of the stall.

"That's so nice of you." I was a little taken back by her kindness. It wasn't that she was mean to me in any way tonight. I just didn't feel the warmth that I'd always remembered about her. Something was different. "Thank you." I took the pants and set my wet ones in their place. Before I could say anything, she swiped them. I heard the sink turn on and I assumed she was rinsing them for me.

I changed into her yoga pants and stepped outside with a smile. "These are great. Thanks again."

"That little bitch did that on purpose," she mumbled. I choked on some spit and ran through her words again in my head just to make sure I heard her right.

"Did you just….?" I stuttered.

"Men may not notice when a woman is going out of her way to get their attention, but we see it." She smiled at me. "My son is a handsome boy, but he's not always the most observant person." She glanced my way again before she returned to rinsing my pants in silence.

I pulled myself up onto the counter and watched her work. I started fidgeting nervously as the elephant in the room grew fatter and fatter with each passing moment. The tears started to well up in my eyes as I realized how much I missed her. Edward's family was always amazing to me. She was like a second mother and when your own mother wasn't around much, it meant a lot.

"Esme, I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"For what, dear?" She seemed a little more at ease than before.

"For hurting him. I never meant to hurt him."

She finished with my pants and rung them out before turning the water off. "Honey, I don't know exactly what happened between you two, but I won't deny that it broke his heart. And it hurt me to see him like that. But I saw you two with each other. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was a mistake."

"A big mistake," I sniffled. "I thought you hated me. I mean you were so quiet earlier…"

"This isn't an easy situation for any of us, Bella. You were like a daughter to us and then suddenly you were just…gone. He was gone. You two together were nothing but a memory and that was a little hard to digest. I guess we just were unsure about how this was supposed to work." She pulled herself up on the counter beside me. "When Edward told us he was living with you, we both nearly keeled over right there. Not because we disliked you, just because of your history and we didn't want either one of you getting hurt. You two were just kids. You loved hard and you hurt just as hard."

I paused before asking her what I wanted to. Mainly because I wanted him to tell me, but I didn't know if he ever would. "Where did he go? When he left?"

"He took a year and went down to South America with Carlisle to work at some clinic. It was hard having them both gone, but I think it was good for him. When he came back he went to college for pre-med. He just finished last year, but for some reason hasn't applied to med school yet. I think he's waiting for someone other than his father and me to tell him he'd be a good doctor." She smoother out her skirt and cleared her throat.

"But you know what they say." She glanced at me with a strange look. "What's meant to be will be." She shrugged and jumped off the counter.

"Wait," I chased after her. I had a distinct feeling she wasn't talking about med school. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She smiled and shrugged before disappearing out the door. I grabbed my pants and ran after her.

Edward and Dr. Cullen watched us as we walked to the table. Edward got up and allowed me to get in. I didn't miss the long look he gave my ass in these pants. Good thing I wasn't wearing Granny Panties or my parachute pants would be exposed to the entire restaurant.

He smirked and leaned in close. "Those are nice. Very fitting." He laughed a little and I knew he thought he was cleverly flirting with me.

"Yeah they are," I said. "They're your mother's."

The moment I said that his face went blank and then distorted in disgust. He leaned back and started biting on his lip. Nothing is more terrifying to a guy than imagining their mother in anything remotely sexual. I just hit the jackpot.

He glanced at me once more and I cocked my eyebrow with a smile before I went back to eating my salad. He finally broke again and smirked at me as he turned away.

The rest of dinner went surprisingly well. It seemed more relaxed. Or maybe just I was. It must have been the yoga pants.

Now that I wasn't convinced that they wanted to hurt me, I saw Dr. Cullen and Esme with new eyes. They were nervous, just like she said. And once we all started talking, we fell back into almost what we used to be. Easy conversation. Fun jokes. Great advice. It was like we were us again. Edward and I. Carlisle and Esme. Almost like nothing had changed.

By the time Carlisle paid the bill, I slowly started to realize that I wasn't seventeen anymore and things weren't like they used to be. Lately it seemed too easy for me to slip back to that place. It made reality harder and harder each time I had to crash back into it.

Carlisle and Esme took us back to the apartment and said their goodbyes. Esme told me that we should get coffee sometime soon and Carlisle even wanted to stop by the bookshop to browse. Edward seemed to be watching their interactions with me very closely. He was quiet as they left and closed the door behind them.

He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest as we stared at each other. It wasn't aggressive or condescending. It was just like we didn't know where to go from here. I wanted to tell him so many things. I wanted to apologize again. I wanted to tell him how much I missed his family. How much I missed him. I wanted to tell him that I wish things were different. How I wish I could go back and change what happened. Everything.

"I…" I started.

"I should get to bed." He locked the door and shuffled down the hallway to his room. I took a deep breath and followed after him, pausing in his doorway for just a moment. He reached behind him and pulled off his shirt as he started to pull back the blankets on his bed.

There was just something about him, especially after tonight. If I'd had more time to process everything that Esme told me, I would have felt everything I was feeling right now back in that restaurant bathroom. I had no idea what he'd done when he left and now that I know everything, my chest ached for the amazing man that he'd become. He had always mentioned going to med school, but I knew a part of him questioned whether he wanted it for him or his father wanted it for him. The fact that he was so selfless at a time when he felt so lost was unbelievable. I always knew how remarkable he was, but it was only now that I was really feeling the weight of it. I was almost speechless. Almost.

"Hey Edward," I mumbled.

"Yeah?" He sat down on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I just wanted to tell you something…" I took a deep breath. "You'd make a phenomenal doctor."

He froze and raised his eyebrows in muted surprise. "Thanks," he said softly.

"Goodnight." I smiled and tapped my fingers lightly against his door frame as I took him in again.

"Goodnight."

I closed my eyes and turned away from him to retreat back to my bedroom. I changed into my pajamas and ran a comb through my hair before I sat down on the edge of the bed. My eyes kept drifting to the box in my closet with our picture.

I finally got up and pulled it down again. I opened it and took our picture out before replacing the box back in its rightful place. I carried the picture back to the bed with me and lay down. I sighed as my eyes washed over our faces again and again. I tucked the picture under my pillow and closed my eyes, hoping I could fall asleep. My brain was too chatty right now and I wanted to avoid that conversation at all costs. _What's meant to be will be._

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter wasn't quite as humorous as the others, but I've gotta have SOME seriousness in here. It can't all be cramps, sticky gum and rainbow underwear ; )**

**So it looks like Esme's words might have had a big impact on Bella. Will this completely change her relationship with Edward or at least be a stepping stone?**

**Just an FYI, it's looking more like chapter 12 rather than 11 for the big reveal. I forgot an important chapter when I was laying that out so my apologies, but its only one more chapter.**

**Big thanks to TwiFicDatabase for choosing my story Love Like Winter as their Pick of the Week this/last week. If you haven't already, you should check out their website for a great review of the story as well as an interview with me.**

**Thanks again and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. See you next week. : )**


	10. S& Just Got Real

**I don't own, I just play. Thank you ImHereToReview for reminding me Bella is not a circus contortionist.**

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><p>"What are you doing today?" Edward asked as I walked out of the bathroom. I pulled my towel a little tighter around my body and shrugged.<p>

"Taking Alice out to lunch." I disappeared into my room.

"That sounds fun. Can I come?"

I stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. I was picking Alice up at The Sweet Spot and there was no way in hell I was taking him there. I'd like to say he'd be like a kid in a candy shop but it'd be worse. He'd be an Edward in a porn shop.

"Yeah sure, do you just want to meet us there? We're going to that new Thai place. I'm just going to pick Alice up at work and we'll be there around 1:00."

"Where does Alice work? Maybe I'll just tag a long."

I groaned and started getting dressed. I could hear him hovering outside my bedroom door. "It's none of your business where she works."

"What...is she a member of the red light district or something?"

"No!" I pulled my shirt over my head. "She works at a place called The Sweet Spot okay. It's just...candy. I'll pick something up for you." _Note to self, buy Edward some Twizzlers on the way to the restaurant._

"Candy shop? Hell yes I want to go. I love candy."

I whipped open the door and found him standing there, hands in his pockets and a wide grin on his face. "No."

"Fine." He scowled and went into his room. He emerged a moment later with his jacket and started towards the front door. "I'll meet you at the restaurant at 1."

"Okay." I disappeared back into my room to finish getting ready. I strolled out of the apartment twenty minutes later and started walking. It wasn't a long walk, maybe fifteen minutes or so to The Sweet Spot. I was starting to think I shouldn't have told Edward the name of it. He'd probably Google it or something and find out I lied to him.

I always felt a little weird going into the store, especially when an older couple walked by as I was going in. It wasn't like it was any more explicit than other sex shops. From the outside it actually looked fairly tame. But everyone knows. The old couple knows.

I spotted Alice at the register and waved. She smiled nervously and walked over to me.

"There's something you should probably know," she said quickly. "And you're probably not going to like it, but there's nothing we can do about it now."

"What is it?"

"Ali, do you guys have more lube in the back?" Edward yelled from one of the aisles.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me! He's here?"

"Walked in about 5 minutes ago and has been practically cartwheeling down the aisles," Alice said. She crossed her arms and sighed. "Let me just go get my stuff and clock out so we can leave."

I took a deep breath before searching the aisles for Edward. I spotted him looking at the DVDs.

"Bella! This store is amazing, why didn't you tell me about it? They've got all of the Harry Pork-her series... Harry Pork-her and the Sorcerer's Bone, Harry Pork-her and Her Chamber of Secrets...All of them!" He started shuffling through DVDs. I brushed him off and ambled through the aisles while we waited for Alice.

"What's your opinion on sex swings?" Edward asked, suddenly right behind me.

"I don't have one."

"An opinion or a sex swing?" He smirked.

"Either."

We walked together in silence down the rest of the aisle until we reached the wall of vibrators. I cleared my throat and felt my cheeks turn pink. Edward cocked his head as he glanced through the large display. "That's a big wall of dicks." He laughed and elbowed me lightly in the ribs.

I couldn't help but smile. Maybe him being here wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's kind of like everyone that comes in here. Once the initial excitement wears off, it's just like any other store.

"You know your birthday is coming up..." He winked and reached for one of the vibrators. I reached out and pulled his hand away.

"I don't need one of those," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed again. I didn't know why I felt that way. I saw Edward's package several times so it wasn't like I should be embarrassed about seeing a fake one in front of him. Except I was.

"Because you already have one or because you have other ways of..."

I clasped my hand over his mouth. "Do not finish that sentence."

He smiled and nodded. We started back towards the front just to see if Alice was ready yet. I was browsing through some mini Kama Sutra books when I felt Edward snake his arms around my waist. I stiffened and whipped my head towards him.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just play along..." He brushed my hair over my shoulder. I noticed a familiar face walk through the door a moment later and instantly scowled. Heidi. What the fucking chances?

"You think I don't know when a woman...wants me?" Edward's fingers traced down my arm and across my stomach. I shivered. Heidi noticed us right away. "I know women think they play it coy and we don't know. But we know." He leaned down and pressed his lips to my shoulder. My eyes fluttered shut and I whimpered. Whimpered? What the hell is happening?

"I know she was trying to make you jealous at the restaurant and when she didn't get what she wanted, she decided to humiliate you. Make you feel embarrassed, uncomfortable." He spun me around so I was flush with his chest and reached down to grab my ass. "Payback's a bitch," he whispered. He confidently leaned down and started nibbling on my ear. I glanced sideways at Heidi, who was staring at us with wide eyes. I smiled inside. _Yeah bitch, he's mine._ _Well kind of. Actually not really. He's not mine._

I could see Heidi's face turning more flushed with each moment. I decided beyond all sanity to actually play along with his little scheme. I reached behind him and slipped my hand into his back pocket. He groaned right into my ear and I nearly lost it. My knees were on the verge of wobbling and I was about two seconds away from taking him in the backroom and trying out some store inventory.

Heidi finally sighed in disgust and left the store without even taking a look around. Edward lingered a moment at my ear before pulling away and smiling. "Good girl."

"Yeah," I said with a shaky breath.

"What the hell did I just see?" Alice squeaked. I noticed her standing behind Edward with her arms crossed over her chest. This was awkward.

"We were just playing..." Edward said.

"The role play section is in the back, what did I just see?" Her eyes danced between the two of us.

"There was a girl..." I pointed outside. "Payback...restaurant...bitch...beer," I mumbled. I felt like my mouth was no longer functioning. Kind of like I was reading flashcards with one single word on each one. Except when I put them together it came out all wrong and didn't make any sense.

"I'm hungry, can we go?" Edward didn't wait for us to answer, he just smiled and started outside. Alice and I followed after, but lingered a few steps back. She kept glancing at me like my mom used to do when I got caught stealing cookies out of the pantry. Except this time a cookie was an ass grab.

"It was a joke," I whispered.

She laughed sarcastically. "I work in a sex shop, I know jokes when I see them. That was not a joke. That was a crotch grab away from foreplay."

"Can we just...forget about it?"

"Yeah. You try to forget about it." She skipped ahead and started talking to Edward, but I could tell by their stance that it definitely wasn't about what just happened. _Avoided the bullet there, Bella. _

Lunch was seemingly normal. Alice and Edward were a lot more chatty than I was. To be honest I was still hot, bothered and confused by what happened earlier. Before I knew it, we'd finished lunch and Edward and I were on our way back to the apartment. He was smiling the whole time like he had something up his sleeve and I didn't like it. I didn't like it one fucking bit.

"What are you plotting?" I narrowed my eyes at him as we walked into the apartment.

"Nothing," he mumbled. "Just curious."

"Curious about what?"

"If you've ever made any purchases from Alice's shop..." He kinked his eyebrow and I could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

I only had a split second to react before he darted towards my bedroom, laughing the whole way. I ran after him, screaming at him as I galloped down the hallway. I caught him just as he entered my room and jumped Thor-style onto his back.

"This is not funny, Edward."

"It's so funny. You don't have to be embarrassed Bella, I know all girls have one." He wrapped his arms around my legs and started looking around the room. "Where would you hide it?"

I saw his eyes lock on my bed and all I could think about was the picture of me and him that was hiding underneath my pillow. That was way more dangerous than the Rabbit that was tucked in my bedside table.

After my whole life flashed before my eyes, I started writhing on his back and tugging on his hair to get him to stop. It was like everything was moving in slow motion, like the movies when a really dramatic moment was happening. This was our really dramatic movie moment. Except instead of having to diffuse a bomb I had to stop him from seeing that picture.

I jumped off of his back as he leaned over my bed and reached for my pillow. We both went crashing down onto the bed, but I couldn't see if he'd found the picture. I was too tangled in my blanket.

I held my breath and pulled my face from the bed. I brushed my hair from my face and cautiously looked at Edward.

"Shit," I whispered. He hovered above me, his eyes fixed on the photograph in his hands. "Shit, shit, shit..." I gulped hard.

Edward's finger ran over the picture and he smiled. He glanced at me and bit down on his lip. "I didn't think you'd still have this..."

I cleared my throat and forced myself upright, pushing him back a little as I did. "Yeah," I said. I turned my face away and brought my knees up to my chest. I counted to ten. Then twenty. Once I reached fifty, I told myself I would face him. No matter how anxious I was, I would face him.

48...49...50. I closed my eyes tight and took a deep breath. The moment before I was going to go for it, I felt him lean in close to me. His breath was on my cheek and I could feel the heat of his body pressed against me. I slowly opened my eyes and found him there...right there. His chin was almost resting on my shoulder and I couldn't breathe. _Breathe Bella._

"Edward," I whispered.

He licked his lips and slowly slipped his hand between my knees and my chest. It slinked across my stomach to firmly grip my side. He moved closer to me and I froze when he pressed his lips to the side of my mouth, just barely grazing the edge of my lips. He did it again and again, each time moving closer to the middle of my mouth. It wasn't a real kiss. Not yet. But it was painfully close and I was starting to doubt if I would refuse him.

He reached up and grabbed hold of my chin. He tilted my face towards his and kissed me again. On the lips.

He wasn't hesitant or cautious. He was strong. Confident. Like he'd been waiting for this kiss for the past 5 years. I surprised myself by answering him. Every suck. Every nibble. Every touch.

I sat up on my knees and pushed my body into his. His grip around my waist tightened and he pulled me onto his lap. I wrapped my arms around his waist and ran my tongue along his lower lip. I missed his lips. I missed them on mine. I missed them on my skin. I missed them whispering my name like he really wanted me.

He ran his hands down from my hips and settled them on my ass, pulling me roughly towards him. He bit down, capturing my lip between his teeth before gently sucking it into his mouth.

"Fucking Hell," he groaned. He adjusted me on his lap and I could feel him grow hard beneath me. I was so turned on right now, I decided I couldn't be held accountable for my actions. I could be bad if I wanted to be. Just a little. Right?

I smirked and reached down between us to palm his dick through his jeans.

"Shit," he hissed. "Take it easy, woman."

I kissed him again as my hand continued tracing the outline on his jeans. He laughed under his breath and nibbled down my neck as I teased him.

My phone started ringing in my back pocket, scaring the shit out of me. I froze and found my eyes locked with Edward's. Neither of us moved an inch. We were in a moment and now we weren't really in that moment anymore. And now I felt like I wanted to burrow into my blanket and hibernate for a year until he's gone. What the fuck just happened?

"Don't answer that," Edward mumbled, keeping his eyes on mine.

"I won't answer it," I said slowly.

We both sat there paralyzed for another minute until the ringing died down. It started up again a few seconds later and I knew it had to be Alice. She's the only one who did shit like that.

"It's...Alice," I stuttered.

He sighed and reached behind me, pulling my phone out of my back pocket as he conceded defeat. He handed me my phone and gently pushed me off his lap.

"Alice?" I answered.

"Did you really think I was letting you off that easy? You have some explaining to do," she said. I knew she was talking about what happened back at the shop, but I couldn't help but feel guilty about what just happened in my own bed.

I motioned to Edward to hang on a second. I could get rid of her quick. Fake sick, bad connection. The possibilities were endless and I needed to come up with something now. Edward just smiled and shook his head.

"No worries," he whispered. He stuck his hands in his pockets and disappeared out into the hallway. I heard his door close moments later and I almost lost it.

"Damn it Alice, you have the worst timing in the world!" I practically screamed into the phone.

"What were you and Edward fake making out again or something?" She asked sarcastically.

That wasn't fake. Not at all. Not even one bit. Shit just got real.

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><p><strong>O.O<strong>

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**O.O**

**That is all. Special shout out to Jaime and her love button. **


	11. Tweaked

**I don't own, I just play. Thank you to ImHereToReview for predeading and my little lovebutton Jaime Arkin for working on a blinkie for this story. I'm sure it'll be awesome!**

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><p>"Ali, I can't talk right now, I have to go." I hung up before she could protest and set my phone down on the bed.<p>

I debated how long I could sit here in my room without having to face him. With my pea-sized bladder I doubt I could go more than four hours and that was if I had nothing to drink. _Damn you large Coke I had at lunch. _ I was screwed.

I had no fucking clue what to say now. What do you say after that? "Hey we just made out on my bed, can I sit and watch Family Guy with you?" This changed things. I had no idea what was going through Edward's mind right now, but I doubted even he would deny that.

I tried to convince myself it was an accident. Maybe he lost his balance and his face fell to mine. Maybe my tongue accidentally slipped inside his mouth. Maybe my hand had a spasm and landed on his dick. The possibilities were endless.

I spent the next hour focusing on my breathing and kept staring out into the hallway, expecting him to show up in my doorway. He didn't.

I finally got up and stepped into the hallway. Silence.

"Edward?" I walked into his room only to find it empty. He was gone.

I walked back into my room to sulk and tried calling him. It went straight to voicemail.

"Now what," I whispered to myself. I glanced over at the other side of my bed and noticed he took the picture. I debated on whether or not to call Alice back, but I had to talk to someone and I refused to fall for that Miss Cleo hotline again. That bitch charged me almost $50 just to tell me I was going to meet the love of my life soon. That was two years ago. I'm still waiting. _Or_ _maybe you've already met him._

I decided against calling Alice back and ended up typing Edward an email. I told him hownervous and confused I was by everything that was going on. I told him that I missed him. I told him almost everything. And then I deleted it.

I went to bed early and woke up the next morning to find Edward still missing. I panicked, wondering if he'd gotten too freaked out and bolted. Was this too much for him? Had we crossed the line?

I anxiously dialed his number and waited through his ridiculous ringtone music. It eventually went to his voicemail and I let out a shaky breath before I started talking.

"Hey, it's me," I said. I sighed. I never understood why people started messages like that. Unless your name was actually Me. I was a little nervous, so I decided to let that one go. "I just uh...I wanted to see if you were okay, because you aren't here. And I'm worried. So...I'm heading into work but could you call me, please?"

I hung up and pushed Edward out of my mind so I could get ready for work. It worked pretty well until I got in there and noticed how slow we were.

"Bella?" Eleazer said, poking my shoulder. I didn't realize I'd been doodling on old receipts until then. I looked down and saw a large ring of black ink, just like that horror movie with the creepy girl in the well. Although I was so nervous about facing Edward later, I'd welcome that phone call. Seven days was too long. Come and take me now little girl.

"Yeah?" I stuttered.

"Your birthday's coming up. Did you forget about your free book?" He smiled.

"That's not really necessary, I don't want to short you out of a sale."

"Nonsense. You know all of my employees get a free book for their birthday. Scoot."

I managed a smile and slipped out from behind the counter. I started browsing down the aisles, looking for something interesting. I stopped at the classics and pulled a few out to take a closer look.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket. Just twice. A text not a call.

**I'm fine. Be home later. -Edward**

I closed my phone and slipped it back into my pocket. I was so discouraged that I pulled out a random book and went back up to the counter.

"This one," I said. I plopped the book down in front of Eleazer and sat back down.

I finished up my shift just as the storm clouds started to roll in. I pulled my hoodie over my head as I started towards the front door of the bookshop and sighed.

"I fucking hate rain," I mumbled.

"Then you picked the wrong place to live, sweetheart." Eleazer called after me. "Stay safe, I heard it's supposed to be a rough one."

"I will. Bye." I pushed out into the pouring rain and tried my best to hail a taxi. It wasn't easy in rain like this. In fact it was downright impossible. I'd walked halfway back to the apartment before I was able to find one and by then it almost wasn't worth it.

I jumped as I slid some cash into the cabbie's hand, frightened by the booming thunder. I could almost feel it vibrating my seat.

"Thank you," I said. I pushed the door open and ran inside, but it was too late. I was already soaked to the bone. I stomped up the stairs and walked through the dark hallway to our apartment. I fumbled with my keys, wondering why it was so dim in here.

I finally found the right key and opened the door. As I stepped inside, I flipped the lightswitch and expected the entire room to light up. It didn't. I was still surrounded in complete darkness.

"What the…" I took another cautious step inside and tried one of the lamps. Still nothing. I set my bag down and felt my way along the wall until I reached the kitchen. I noticed the digital clock on our microwave was out. It was almost like…

"Our power is out," Edward said, suddenly behind me. I screamed and went into immediately defense mode, slapping and punching at him. "Relax, Grasshopper." He laughed. "It's just me."

"I could have killed you!" I screamed.

"With your fists of fury?" I could almost hear him smirking in the dark.

I pulled my arms back in and folded them across my chest. "What happened?"

"Storm must have knocked out the power, I was just about to call the apartment manager." He raised his cell phone in the air, casting a slight glow over us both. I tried to step back when I realized how close he was, but I had nowhere to go. Damn countertop was holding me hostage.

I cleared my throat and Edward took a step back from me as he put his phone up to his ear. I took the opportunity to slip by him and slither towards my room. Every so often the lightning would briefly light up the entire apartment so I could find my way. Once I made it inside my room, I checked my bedside table for a spare lighter from my rebel smoking days. I needed something to keep me calm that year after Edward left. Unfortunately it also made me cough like an 80 year old woman climbing a never ending staircase so I quit.

There were a few candles around the apartment so I took the liberty of lighting them to give us a little light. I took one from my room and put it in Edward's before moving out to the living room. There were some extras in the closet so I pulled those out as well.

I glanced out the window and across to the building beside us. It looked completely dark too.

"I think the whole block is out," I said.

Edward sighed and stepped into the living room. "That's what the manager said. The generator he has only keeps the essentials running…refrigerator and such. He said the city is aware of it, but they don't know when it'll be back up." He plopped down on his beanbag and threw his phone on the table. "What happened to you?" He kinked his eyebrow at my appearance.

"It's fucking raining!" I sighed, exasperated by the obvious.

"Is it?"

"I'm going to change my clothes." I sulked towards my room and stripped out of my sopping wet clothes. I pulled on a big sweatshirt and some pajama shorts before heading to the bathroom to hang everything up to dry. I rang my hair out and braided it into a loose pony tail. I pulled it over my shoulder and grabbed a towel to wipe off my face. Edward was bustling around in the kitchen, using his cell phone as a flashlight and whistling to himself.

When I was finished, I went back out to the living room and plopped down on the couch as I pulled a blanket close. I held my breath as a flash of lightning flared outside, waiting for the boom.

"I made you something," Edward called. He came from the kitchen, carrying a small plate and a glass of wine. "PB and J, with the crusts cut off."

I could hardly believe that he remembered. Just like when we were younger. "My favorite…" I whispered. He smiled in the candlelight and set it down on the table in front of me, as well as the glass of wine. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. We were kind of low on options considering we can't cook anything." He disappeared back into the kitchen and came back with his own food and drink. He sat down beside me and started eating.

We ate in silence, except for the pounding rain against the window and the occasional boom of thunder. I felt his eyes on me as I munched on my delicious sandwich and couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. My eyes flickered towards him as I stuffed the last bit between my lips. He smiled and went back to his sandwich.

I remember my new book from earlier so I went to my room to fetch it. Since I didn't have anything else to do in this blackout, I guess I could read. I snuggled back into my blanket on the couch and took a sip of wine as I opened the book. It was one of those cheesy romance novels with Fabio on the cover. I always made fun of them and out of everything in the store, I managed to grab this one. Lady Luck was a bitch.

I glanced up as Edward set his empty plate on the table and chugged half of his drink. He leaned back on the couch and rested his hands on his lap.

"Are you going to sit there and stare at me all night?" I asked. I looked at him over the top of my book and blushed. I pulled my legs a little closer to my body and shivered when I saw his eyes on me.

"What if I said yes?" He kinked his head to the side and took a sip.

"I'd say you're out of your mind and need another hobby." I tried to focus on my book, but I felt the weight of his gaze on my entire body.

I read for another twenty minutes before I got to the juicy part of the book, the first horizontal tango between the pirate and the damsel in distress.

_Captain Jack reached into Caroline's blouse and tweaked her perfect nipples._

I held back a laugh. Tweaked her nipples? What are they, gears on a machine?

"Excuse me?" Edward said, his head popping up.

"What?" I squeaked, slamming the book shut. Up until the nipple tweaking, the book was actually pretty hot. I hated to admit that I was a little turned on. I hated even more that I was subconsciously picturing Edward as I read.

"Did you just say something about tweaking nipples?"

"No?" I held my breath and shook my head. Did I just say that out loud?

"No?" His brow furrowed in confusion. "My mistake." He finished the rest of his wine. "What exactly does that mean anyway?" He laughed a little under his breath and I couldn't help but smile.

"I have no clue." I giggled.

"So you did say tweaking nipples?" He smirked.

"I did." I held up the book. "This is just so ridiculous to me, I can't even read it without laughing."

He grabbed the book out of my hands and started reading it himself. I leaned back and closed my eyes as he read a few sentences out loud.

"His quivering member shook with anticipation…" He read. He glanced over at me and laughed. "He should probably get that checked out, I don't think my member ever shook with anticipation."

His fingers scratched lightly at my ankles, lazy and gentle. He probably thought I didn't notice. I noticed. He kept reading and laughing to himself at particularly hilarious lines. All the while, I was completely focused on his hands on my skin. His fingers completely enveloped my ankle, tugging slightly as he pulled my leg onto his lap. His hand continued to slowly travel up my leg, massaging small circles as he read.

As he rolled my muscles, kneading with perfection, my head lulled back onto the couch. I closed eyes and took a deep breath as he reached the back of my knee. I pushed aside any rational thoughts that told me to stop him. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop.

"Edward, stop," I said.

"Why?" He asked. He closed the book and set it on the table. I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair.

"I mean…don't you want to talk about what happened yesterday." I looked down at my hands as I felt the heat flash through my body. "I mean…you know."

"Not particularly."

"We need to talk about this, us." I shook my head and tried to tell myself to see this through. It proved to be a little difficult with him sitting right in front of me. Especially with his hand creeping on my thigh.

"Bella, I wanted to kiss you last night." He scooted a little closer and brought my other leg onto his lap. "So I did."

"Okay." I cocked my eyebrow.

"And…" He leaned over and placed his hands flat on either side of my hips. "If I wanted to kiss you again right now, I'd do it."

"Do you want to?" I asked, barely above a whisper. I bit down on my lip as I waited for his answer. This would prove it wasn't a fluke. It wasn't gravity or a spasm. It was real.

"I do."

"Really?" I tried to hide my smile.

He nodded and continued to hover above me. He inched down and softly brushed his lips across my neck.

"Do you promise me we'll talk about this soon?" I murmured.

"I promise." He ghosted his lips across my skin and dipped his tongue into the groove at my collarbone. His hand disappeared from my thigh and I sighed in disappointment at the loss of his touch. He replaced it at my hip, right under the hem of my sweatshirt before slipping inside. His fingers walked across my ribs, almost like he was turning the pages of a book, as his lips returned to my neck. They traveled up my jaw and paused before capturing my mouth with his. I could taste the hint of jelly on his tongue and arched my body into his.

He groaned when his fingers reached my bare skin where my bra should lay. He pushed his hips into mine and I felt his length brush against my heated center.

"Braless for me?" He whispered. He fisted the fabric of my sweatshirt and tugged it up, exposing my stomach. "I want it off."

I lifted my arms above my head and waited impatiently as he pulled it off of my body. His hands were instantly on my chest, massaging as he sucked on my neck. He traveled south, brushing his lips down the center of my chest before turning his attention to my breasts. He took one between his teeth, rolling and nibbling on my sensitive flesh as he looked up at me. I ran my fingers through his hair and held him firmly in place. His tongue flicked out and teased me as I pushed my hips to his again. His tongue swirled around and around again before he took me into his mouth once more.

"So perfect," he mumbled. He turned his attention to the other side, teasing me through the same routine again until my nipples were swollen and glistening in the glow of the candles. He kissed them both lightly once more before kissing me on the lips. His hands slipped south and gripped tightly onto my pajama shorts, right at the hip. His fingers were completely and totally wrapped around the fabric, making them look dismal and tiny. It kept me on the edge, wondering if he was going to take it a step further. He could pull them down and take me at any moment. Or he could keep them where they were and drive me crazy. Either way I was royally fucked.

He sat back on his knees, keeping his hands in place as they pulled at my shorts a little. I held my breath in anticipation as I waited for him. I couldn't help but play the Jeopardy song in my head. I finally got frustrated and sat up on my elbows.

"I want these off." I nodded down at my shorts. He smirked and shook his head. "Why not?"

"Not yet."

"That's not very nice."

He bit down on his lip and pushed his thumb roughly against my most sensitive spot, right down the seam of my shorts.

"Fuck," I hissed.

"It's interesting how well I know your body after all of these years…" he mused. He pushed his palm forcefully against my center, brushing it up and over towards the waistband. He made the circuit again, faster and harder than before. "Know how to make you come undone…" Again. "Know just the right…buttons to push." Again. And again.

I started squirming and writhing beneath him, unable to take the pressure building up inside of me. He leaned down and nipped at my lips as I crashed into my release.

"Tell me you want me," he said.

"I want you," I moaned. My head fell back as I screamed out. Edward's lips brushed over my chin and the length of my neck as the lights flickered back on.

My chest heaved up and down, my lungs desperate for air as I came down. I looked down at my bare chest and cringed. I was suddenly embarrassed in the bright lights and went to cover up.

"Don't do that," Edward said. There was an honesty in his voice that had nothing to do with desire. "Cover up if you want to, but you're beautiful." He got up from the couch and pulled the curtains shut so I didn't put on a show for the neighbors. I let my arms fall away and pulled my sweatshirt onto my stomach. I smiled as he walked into the kitchen and finally sat up to pull it on.

He brought out the bottle of wine and poured both of us another glass. "I forgot to tell you, Alice invited me to your birthday party. I hope that's okay."

"It's okay." I cleared my throat and felt a little bad that he thought I might be upset by that. Of course I wanted him there. Right?

He sat down beside me and put his hand on my thigh. "I'm sworn to secrecy, though so don't think you can get it out of me." He winked and took a drink. "But my member is quivering in anticipation."

I smiled for a moment. "Edward, what does this all mean?" I gestured between us.

He sighed and turned towards me. "I think it means we shouldn't overcomplicate things. I think it means we shouldn't overanalyze things. I think it means that we should just let whatever is going to happen, happen. I think you should stop trying to fight this because of our history. And I think its okay to be okay with it." He hesitated before he kissed my cheek and took his wine into his bedroom.

Maybe he was right. We're different people now, right? He's matured…a little. I'm not the same insecure girl that I used to be. Maybe this could work….whatever this was. I was obviously still attracted to him and there was obviously something between us. I guess we'd have to wait and see where it goes from here. I had so many questions and absolutely no definite answers. All I knew for sure was that Edward Cullen just tweaked the shit out of my nipples. And I was okay with it.

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><p><strong>AN: Things are getting steam-eh! Next chapter is the big one!  
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**Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I had a really crazy week. Beyond crazy. Like you would never even believe how crazy. If for some reason you don't see a chapter of this story Tuesday or Wednesday, please know that there is a reason for it and I'll get it to you as soon as I possibly can. I am incredibly busy and things happen so I appreciate your patience.**

**Just a few announcements:**

**I posted a one shot called "The Heart of A King" so I hope you've checked it out. If you enjoyed it enough that you'd like another chapter, there is a Team Tudorward for the Junkin for Joplin auction that I'm participating in. Bidding starts tomorrow so if you're interested in joining please let me know and I'll point you in the right direction to join up. Team Leader Jaime is asking for a min $5 donation.  
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**I'm also participating in the Lyrics and Lemons contest hosted by The Lemonade Stand. You should probably check out their FF page and make sure to put it on alert. I'll put the link on my profile for you so it'll be real easy ;)There's already 2 stories posted and there shall be more to come. It's anonymous so I can't reveal what entry is mine, but I'm sure they will all be awesome : )**


	12. The Secret

**I don't own, I just play. Thanks to ImHereToReview for her prereading and thanks to Jaime for making me an awesome blinkie!**

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><p>I sniffled as the cabbie rounded the corner to my apartment. I glanced at the clock and held back a sob. It desperately wanted to escape from my chest, from the very center of my heart. It was 12:01. My birthday was officially over. And I was alone.<p>

"You okay sweetie?" The cabbie asked. He parked the car in front of the apartment and turned around.

"Yes." _No. _I handed him some cash. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He looked at me with sad eyes as I got out and wiped at my eyes. I could only imagine what I looked like right now. Puffy, red eyes. Tearstained cheeks. Makeup running all over my face. Sad, pathetic expression. Happy Birthday to me.

I looked up at the window of the apartment and allowed a tear to slip down my cheek. This was far from how I imagined tonight going. Not. One. Bit.

_12 Hours Earlier…_

I opened my eyes and rolled over in my bed, sighing when I realized I'd slept longer than I'd meant to. I froze when I met Edward's chest and giggled.

"How'd that get there?" I asked, cocking my eyebrow at him. "This definitely wasn't here when I went to bed last night." I traced my finger up the middle of his shirt and rested it on his chin as he slept beside me. "Were you trying to take advantage of me while I slept, sir?"

"Never," he mumbled, his voice still thick with sleep. "Happy Birthday." He opened his eyes and smiled.

"Do we really have to go out tonight?" I ran my fingers through my hair. "I mean can't we just camp out and make a fort out of the couch cushions like we did for my seventeenth birthday?"

"Gladly. Although I think Alice might come looking for us." He rolled out of bed and stretched his arms over his head. My body flushed with heat as his shirt rode up a little and exposed the waistband of his boxers. He turned around and smirked. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop undressing me with your eyes?"

"Maybe if you walked around naked more often, I wouldn't have to," I teased.

"True." Without any warning he pulled down his pants and kicked them off before pulling his shirt over his head. I screamed and started laughing as I pulled the blanket up over my face. He winked at me as he crossed the room towards the door. "Ask and you shall receive."

I peeked out from under my blanket just in time to see his bare ass walk out into the hallway. I heard the shower turn on a moment later.

It'd been a couple of weeks since our kind-of talk and the Nipplegate incident. In the meantime, I'd tried to follow his advice and not overthink things between us. We'd fooled around a little….okay a lot. But we haven't gone as far as we'd tried to in high school. I think we've both realized that it's a sensitive issue for both of us and we want to figure out what this is before we do it…literally. He's not my boyfriend and I'm sure as hell not his girlfriend. I've refused to even consider taking on that title until we've hashed out all of our issues. But for now, I'm happy to _enjoy_ his company, even if he brought his damn chips into my bed with him.

I finally got up and made us both some breakfast, which meant I toasted two Poptarts and put them on plates.

"Birthday girl should not be making her food today," Edward said. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.

"I pushed a button," I said. "I basically slaved away all morning."

He smiled and started brushing his teeth. "I'm supposed to give you something from Alice, but I can't seem to remember where I put it." He spit in the sink and started towards his bedroom. I followed behind him with his Poptart.

"Is it in there?" I nodded to the towel he was wearing.

He shook his head. "Stop trying to get in my pants, woman." He smiled and leaned down to press his lips to mine. It wasn't long enough. He tasted like spearmint, just like his toothpaste.

"Here it is." He pulled a small box from under his bed. There was a red bow on top of it and if I had to guess, I would bet it's some type of ensemble I'm expected to wear tonight. Even though she drives me mad sometimes, I'd wear it without complaint. Alice knows just how to make me look good. And there was a certain someone I wanted to look good for tonight.

"Thanks." I untied the bow and popped the box open just enough for me to see inside. Black dress. Red heels. Perfect.

"Can I see?" Edward asked, trying to peek over my shoulder.

"Not until later."

He groaned and retreated to the bathroom again. I took the box in my room and hid it away for later tonight.

Once Edward was finished in the bathroom, I took a shower as well. When I was finished, I dried my hair, lotioned my legs and plucked my eyebrows. I was basically a walking infomercial from all of the products I'd used.

I put some sweats back on since I assumed we had the rest of the day to lounge around and walked out of the bathroom.

"Fuck!" Edward yelled from the living room. "Ouch!"

I scurried down the hallway, wondering what the hell he was doing out there. As soon as I reached the living room, I saw that it had been completely transformed. The couch cushions were all off and stacked strategically around the table. Edward's sheets were draped over the chairs and up to the television, creating a canopy over the entire floor. There was a small opening right by the couch. In permanent marker, on a piece of lined notebook paper, Edward had written "No boys allowed."

I smiled and kneeled down to peek inside. Edward was sitting inside, rubbing his head. I assumed he'd hit it on the chair beside him.

"I think the sign says no boys allowed." I kinked my eyebrow.

"Good thing I'm a man then," he said.

"Am I allowed inside?" I asked.

"I built it just for you." He smiled and waved me in. I ducked my head inside and crawled towards him.

There were pillows from both of our beds inside as well as blankets. This was definitely not condusive to being productive today. This was like a day long nap waiting to happen.

I laid down on a few of the pillows and snuggled in. Edward turned on his side and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Remember when we skipped school one day and built one of these in your living room?" He asked.

I laughed and nodded. "Charlie came home and nearly shit a brick."

"That was a good day." He laid back down beside me and reached for my hand. He hooked his fingers through mine, softly caressing up and down each one. "I've been thinking about going back to school."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean I'll obviously have to work really hard to get it, but I want it. I want to be a doctor."

"What changed your mind?"

He raised our hands to his lips and kissed my skin. "You did."

My stomach started doing those flip flop things that were usually followed by intense vomiting. But this time it actually felt nice. I couldn't remember the last time it felt this nice.

He reached beside him and pulled out a chocolate bar. After he opened it he broke it in two and handed half to me.

We laid there for the rest of the afternoon, just talking. We didn't cover anything we needed to talk about, but it was something. Sometimes the first step to rebuilding a relationship is just a baby step. This was our baby step.

Edward's phone rang at seven o'clock on the dot and I knew right away that it was Alice. He scowled and rolled his eyes as she spoke.

"Yes, Alice. She'll be ready at 8." He nodded and hung up without another word. "We're supposed to meet her downstairs in an hour."

"I guess I should go get ready then." I leaned over and quickly pressed my lips to his before darting out of the fort.

On my way out I noticed a dark mark on my pillow, right by Edward's ass.

"What is that?" I asked, completely horrified. It looked exactly like...well like shit. "What is it?" I asked again, my voice panicked.

"I uh..." Edward looked down at it and sighed. "I had an accident okay?"

I shrieked and started towards him, ready to beat his ass.

"It's chocolate!" He laughed as he defended against my attack. "I swear it's chocolate!" He reached down and rubbed his finger across it before sticking it in his mouth. "See?"

"Fine." I shook my head and crawled back out. "That was not funny."

"It was a little funny."

I retreated back to my room to get ready and smiled when I realized everything fit perfectly. She always seemed to know my damn size.

My parents called while I was putting on my lipstick, so I put it on speakerphone and laughed as they sang through "Happy Birthday." I finished up quickly after that, seeing that it was quarter to.

I grabbed my purse and opened my bedroom door. The apartment was dark, except for one small light in the living room. As I walked down the hallway, I noticed Edward sitting on the couch, his head resting lightly on his hand. He froze when he saw me and stood.

He was wearing a nice fitted vest and a dress shirt pushed up to his elbows. I couldn't imagine him looking any better...unless he was naked. And writhing on top of me. But that was neither here nor there because we had a birthday to celebrate. Maybe instead of a gift, I'd get to unwrap him later.

"I..." He stuttered and gestured to me. "Um...I...damn." He blushed and shook his head. "You look amazing." He wrapped his arm around my waist and kissed the top of my head. "And I would love to do dirty things to you right now, but we have to go."

"How dirty?" I asked.

"Very."

He toted me towards the door and pushed me out, smacking my ass along the way. We made our way down the stairs, touching one way or another the entire way. We separated and smiled as we rounded the corner to the lobby.

I was pretty sure Alice knew something was going on between us. Over the last few weeks, she'd grown...fidgety. Almost like what I would imagine a chihuahua on crack to act like. She always got like that when she felt out of the loop. One time I tried to plan a surprise birthday party for her and she had to go to the doctor because her eye wouldn't stop twitching. That was the last time I ever tried to do something nice for her. She can't handle the suspense.

"Happy Birthday, Bella!" Alice said. She gave me an overly enthusiastic hug as I looked around the lobby at the rest of our guests. I choked down vomit when I saw Edward's brother and Rosalie standing there. I'd seen them more than I'd seen Edward since high school, but it was never a pleasant experience. Not that they were ever outright mean to me, but I always felt like I was going to pass out every time I saw them. Rosalie always looked away like I didn't exist, but Emmett always managed to smile at me...just a little.

"Thanks for coming out," I said to Emmett.

"You're welcome. Although I can't say I believed Edward when he first told me who he was living with."

"Coincidence of the century huh?" I laughed nervously and looked at Rose. She kinked her eyebrow and grabbed hold of Emmett's hand.

"Exactly."

"Let's go!" Alice's heels clicked across the floor as she toted Jasper towards the door. Edward and I lingered behind everyone else. He kissed my neck and placed his hand on the small of my back as we walked outside.

"So where exactly are we going, Alice?" I asked.

"So there's this new Latin Club in town..." She started.

"A what?"

"I've heard it has great dancing."

"I don't dance."

"You can dance with me," Edward said, winking at me.

"Yeah," Alice said. "Dance with Edward." Her eyes lingered on us for a moment longer before she turned back around.

"You know I don't dance," I whispered. "Remember prom? I shimmied right into Principal Webber's lap."

"And I'm sure that he liked it," Edward said. "If you're a good girl, maybe we'll break out the red scrunchie later?" He smirked at me and my knees turned to jelly. Among other parts.

"Alice, how long until we get to the club?" I stuttered.

"We're here!" She clapped and presented the neon glowing sign above us. We all ducked inside and found a large booth by the side of the dance floor. I sat between Jasper and Edward and we immediately ordered some shots.

"Happy Birthday, Bella!" Jasper said, holding up his shot. I smiled and clinked my glass with his before downing the liquor.

As the night progressed, I became slightly aware that Edward's hand was resting on my thigh, concealed from view beneath the table. He stared at me a little too long, a little too often but I was a little too drunk and turned on to care.

I smiled and started chewing on the straw of my drink as it slid higher up my skin. I gave him a sideways glance and found him staring straight ahead with that smug smile on his face. Sneaky bastard.

He laughed a little to himself as his hand slid under the hem of my dress.

"Edward," I said, under my breath. This was bold, even for him. And I wasn't sure I wanted to stop him.

He looked at me and shrugged like he was oblivious to his fingers caressing my inner thigh on their way to the promised land. I bit down on my lip as they brushed along the seam of my underwear.

"Dance with me," I breathed.

"Okay." I grabbed his hand from my dress and started scooting out of the booth. Everyone watched us as we went, their eyes focused on our entwined fingers.

"I thought you didn't dance," Edward mumbled as I pulled him onto the dance floor.

"I want my red scrunchie..." I draped my arms over his shoulders and pushed my hips into his as I swayed to the music. His hands found their way to my waist and pulled me closer. to him. His lips were at my neck, just below my ear as we moved. I could feel his short, hot breaths against my skin and I wanted nothing more than to kiss him. I didn't care if people saw us or what they said. I was two seconds away from ripping his clothes off in the middle of the dance floor and putting on a show.

I licked my lips and leaned down to kiss the hollow of his throat and made my way up to his lips. I nipped at them with my teeth, tasting a hint of whiskey on them as I did. He pushed his tongue between my lips as his hands drifted south to my ass.

"God, baby, I'm so hard right now," he breathed against my lips.

"Then why don't you use it?" I spun around and pushed my back flush against his chest. His hand ghosted down my side, brushing lightly over the side of my breast and ribs before settling on my hip. I forced my hips back against him and felt him groan at the contact. His hands roamed down my thighs and discreetly brushed over my center, sending a jolt through my body as they returned to my hips.

He leaned down and kiss my shoulder as he did it again, making sure to rub hard this time. I whimpered and pushed my hips out to meet him. It was the quickest movement. To anyone else, it would have looked like we were just dancing. But he was so close to getting me off in the middle of this dance floor that I almost lost it.

He pushed his hips into mine again and took my skin between his teeth as he groaned. I finally lost all control and let go, allowing my head to fall back onto his shoulder as the waves of ecstasy rolled through my body, intensifying with each vibration of the drum on the stage.

I turned around so I could kiss him and stumbled a little. He caught me and pressed his lips to mine. After a moment he pulled away with a smile on his face. He glanced behind me, towards our booth and his face instantly hardened. His grip tightened on my waist, in an almost overly protective way. Something wasn't right.

"Edward?" I placed my hand on his cheek. "What's wrong?"

"What the fuck is he doing here?" He growled. His dark eyes were fixed behind me, never moving, never changing. I turned my head and lost my breath. I saw what he saw. _Who_ he saw. Jacob.

"Alice must have invited him..." I whispered, stumbling over my words. I cleared my throat and hesitantly pulled Edward off of the dance floor. This was bad. This was really bad. Fucking bad.

Jacob was one of my best friends and in any other situation I would be happy to see him. Our friendship had changed after everything that happened, but we'd moved past it. Edward was a different story. The last time Jacob's name left his mouth he was threatening to kick his ass.

I planted on a fake smile and kept a firm hold of Edward's hand as we approached the table.

"Jake? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Alice invited me. I didn't know if I'd be able to make it so I didn't want to tell you." He smiled and glanced nervously back at Edward. I tried not to hate Alice right now. She didn't know. She couldn't have known that Edward would react this way. Everyone was oblivious. Until now anyway. "Happy Birthday," Jake said. He leaned in for a hug and I felt Edward tug my hand back towards him. Jake nodded and turned to Edward. "Edward." He held out his hand. "How's it going?"

Edward looked down at Jake's hand and brushed by him, pulling me into the booth with him. He was completely silent for the next half hour and I had no fucking idea how to act. This was beyond awkward for me, but I was trapped. This was the booth of humiliating death and I was moments away from flatlining.

"Rosie!" Emmett said. "Come dance with me. Although I don't think we can beat those two over there." He nodded to Edward and I. I noticed Edward's hand shaking as he gripped his beer bottle. I needed to get him out of here. He was on the verge of a blowup. "Things have obviously picked up right where they left off." He laughed and kept talking despite the overwhelming silence that had befallen the rest of the table. "By the way, why did you two ever break up? It was like...the stupidest thing ever." He laughed again and took a sip from his drink.

"Emmett," Rosalie scolded.

"It's a long story..." I started, hoping he would drop it.

"Oh let me tell it," Edward said, finally speaking up. He glared at Jake before he spoke again. "See I was in love with Bella. So in love with her that we decided to wait to have sex until we were both ready. Our good friend Jake here decided to step in and fuck her anyway."

There was an audible gasp from the table. Emmett's jaw was nearly on the floor and Alice already had tears in her eyes.

"You broke up with me," I stuttered. "We were on a break!" I screamed. I couldn't believe he'd just outed us to everyone. I was horrified. Embarrassed. Ashamed. Hurt. That was one of the worst mistakes of my life and he rattled it off like he was reading a menu.

"Do not Ross and Rachel me right now!" Edward yelled.

"You don't even like Friends!" I pushed him roughly on his shoulder, nearly spilling his beer on him.

"Hey, Edward let's calm down a little and talk about this somewhere else okay?" Jake reached across the table and put his arm between Edward and I.

"Calm down a little?" Edward laughed and turned towards Jake. A moment later, Edward was soaring across the table like he was one of those flying squirrels. He hit Jake square in the chest as they both fell from the booth to the floor. There was a flurry of people and I couldn't tell if either of them got any punches in, but I couldn't move. I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Edward!" I shrieked. "Jake, stop!"

Emmett and Jasper hurdled over everyone and jumped in, trying to separate them. The bouncers from the bar were there a moment later and they managed to pull them apart. Alice grabbed my arm, forcing me from my seat as Edward and Jake were hauled towards the exit. I saw Edward wipe at his cheek as I tried to catch up with them, but I couldn't see well. Everything was blurry. I was crying. I was crying in the middle of a club and all of my friends probably thought I was a heinous bitch.

By the time Alice and I made it outside, Edward was gone. Jake was pacing around outside, dabbing at a cut on his lip.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean for that to happen." He shook his head and looked my way. "Shit!" He kicked at the brick wall of the building.

"Where is he?" I cried.

"I don't know. He took off running as soon as we got out here. I'm sorry, Bella," he said again.

I instantly reached for my phone and dialed Edward's number. It rang and went to voicemail. I tried again. And again. Each time it went to voicemail.

"Oh God." I looked frantically around, reaching for Alice. "Where did he go?"

She wrapped her arms around me and rocked me back and forth. "I don't know. I'm sure he's okay."

Emmett and Jasper tried calling him, but he still didn't answer. My cries had quieted to soft sniffles for the time being, but my heart was panicking. He was hurting because of me...again.

"Bella," Alice said, a slight apprehension in her voice. "Why didn't you...why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I was so ashamed." I shook my head. "It was a huge...huge mistake and I knew I messed up. I didn't know how to fix it and I didn't want to lose you like I lost him." There went the tears again. I was like a fucking everlasting fountain.

"Honey, you could never lose me. I'm just sorry you went through that all alone. I should have been there."

"It's done." I wiped my nose and started pacing around. He'd been gone almost an hour and it was driving me mad. "I have to go look for him," I stuttered. "Which way did he go?" I asked Jake. He pointed down the road and I started that way until Emmett grabbed my arm.

"You're not going by yourself to look for him. We'll go. You go home and wait there. We'll let you know if we hear anything." He patted my shoulder affectionately and smiled. "Okay?"

"But..."

"Okay?" He stepped out into the street and hailed me a cab.

"Do you want me to come with you B?" Alice asked.

"N-n-no." I shook my head. I didn't want her to see me fall apart. I told myself I'd hold it together until I got home. Then I could fall to pieces just like my heart was now.

"Okay. Call me if you need anything. I love you." She waved sadly and cowered into Jasper's side.

A cab finally pulled up and Emmett helped me inside. I made him promise again to call me if they found him and headed back home.

I sniffled as the cabbie rounded the corner to my apartment. I glanced at the clock and held back a sob. It desperately wanted to escape from my chest, from the very center of my heart. It was 12:01. My birthday was officially over. And I was alone.

"You okay sweetie?" The cabbie asked. He parked the car in front of the apartment and turned around.

"Yes." _No. _I handed him some cash. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He looked at me with sad eyes as I got out and wiped at my eyes. I could only imagine what I looked like right now. Puffy, red eyes. Tearstained cheeks. Makeup running all over my face. Sad, pathetic expression. Happy Birthday to me.

I looked up at the window of the apartment and allowed a tear to slip down my cheek. This was far from how I imagined tonight going. Not. One. Bit.

I stumbled up the stairs and towards the apartment. My hands shook as I slid the key in the lock and opened the door.

The apartment was just as dark as we'd left it. I sighed and reached over for the light. As soon as it flickered on, I felt panic and relief at the same time. He was sitting on the couch, his fists clenched tightly as they rested on his thighs. He stared straight ahead, not even acknowledging my presence.

I spoke his name, so soft that I don't even think he heard it. With it came all the regret from those few nights that tore us apart. After tonight, I didn't know if we could ever find our place again. The very thought of it made me want to throw up. I needed him. I wanted him. I didn't deserve him.

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><p><strong>AN: So there it is and its a tough one. Bella didn't cheat (yes they were broken up), but definitely broke Edward's heart and betrayed their promise. It's not something that's hard to bounce back from, but I know they can do it. **

**Please note that even though the reason for their breakup was revealed, this chapter did not answer all the questions surrounding it. If you have specific questions, feel free to include them in your review and if I don't plan on answering them in the story I will gladly do so then. **

**I know you've held on a long time to get to this moment so thank you for sticking around and I hope to see you as they work towards really mending their relationship. I appreciate you guys as readers! I know it's going to get out and you're going to want to talk about it, but I'd appreciate it if you at least _tried_ not to spoil it for others, especially since I'm updating so early in the day today.  
><strong>

**On a lighter note, the outfits from this story are up on the blog. The wonderfully talented Jaime Arkin made me a blinkie for this story and you can find info about it on the blog as well!**

**Please also check out the Lyrics and Lemons contest entries and put it on alert for future entries. The link is on my profile page and I'm participating!**


	13. The Listening

**A/N: Aside from the humor, I wrote this story because I believe in love. I believe in mistakes. I believe in regret and redemption and I believe in second chances. I want to thank those who understand that (and most of you do. even a lot of you that didn't were nice enough to be mature in your review) and was speechless from the reviews that I received stating that. I was honestly a little scared to post that chapter bc I know the stigma about "cheating" fics. I personally do not consider what Bella did ****cheating (I know people have other opinions and that's fine), but I just think they both made some major mistakes and they had to live with the consequences. That's not a ridiculous thing to live through, it's human. And in a fantastic, wonderful coincidence from the fanfic outline universe, this chapter embodies everything that I believe in about this story. So thank you for being awesome and believing in those things. XOXO  
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***Forrest Gump voice* And that's all I have to say about that. I now return you to your regularly scheduled chapter. p.s. it's a shorter chapter but I wanted to end it where I ended it.**

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><p>I stood in the doorway for an eternity, trying to catch my breath or tell my feet to move. I was frozen, paralyzed by fear. What am I supposed to say now?<p>

Step. Step. Step. I moved slowly towards him, my arms out in front of me in a cautious advance.

Edward refused to look at me. His eyes were still focused straight ahead, even when I came to stand before him. The glow from the streetlights illuminated his face a little and I could see a small cut on his cheek. There was a drip of dry blood on his skin, lingering just below it.

I knelt down between his legs and sniffled as I reached to assess the damage. He flinched and hissed as I touched his cheek.

I silently got up and walked into the kitchen. I grabbed a Ziplock bag and reached inside the freezer to get some ice. As soon as there was enough in the bag, I grabbed a soft washcloth and returned to the living room. He still hadn't moved.

I knelt back down in front of him and lightly placed the ice to his cheek. He flinched again, although a little less this time.

"Edward," I whispered. His eyes were dark. I couldn't tell if they were angry or sad. Or maybe a little of both. I realized then that I never told him what happened that night. The night I spent with Jake. I didn't deserve to tell it, but he deserved to hear the truth. I couldn't live anymore with him not knowing.

"It was the week after we broke up...the second to last time." I lowered my head.

"Bella, don't." He shook his head and finally looked at me.

"It's not an excuse," I said. The tears started to well up in my eyes again and I knew it was a matter of moments before they spilled down my cheeks. "It's an explanation. I think you deserve an explanation, Edward."

"Do I?" He asked. I wondered if he meant for me to really answer that or if he was asking himself. When he didn't say anything else, I spoke again.

"I was a mess. I know I should have known..." I sniffled. "I knew how we were, I knew it. But something about it felt so final and I just...I believed what you told me. You said you were leaving for college. You said you couldn't do long distance. I believed we were over." My heart clenched at the memory as I examined his face again. "Alice invited me out for ice cream, you know to cheer me up." The tears started streaming down my face. Everything was blurry. I couldn't even see his eyes anymore. "My phone rang right as I was walking in. Alice was begging with me not to come in, but it was too late. I saw you. You were...with her." I wiped my nose. "Nuzzling her neck and kissing her cheek. That Junior girl. I couldn't breathe, thinking that you'd move on so quickly. I thought everything between us was a lie and it...it broke my heart all over again," I stuttered.

Edward dropped his head into his hands and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I ran out before you saw me. Jake was coming in with his friends from the Rez. He was my best friend, Edward. He saw how upset I was and invited me out to his place for a party. He thought it might take my mind off things. We both drank way too much and I woke up the next morning in his bed. We both cried when we realized what had happened." I shook my head and felt the heat rush to my cheeks. "I don't even...remember. I was so ashamed. It was...the biggest mistake I ever made, especially when I realized that even after everything we were going through I still wished it had been you." I thought my fingers were trembling against his skin, but it was my whole body. I was shaking. "I d-d-don't deserve forgiveness. Nothing I can say or do can...take back what happened and I understand that, but I just...I wanted you to know that it didn't happen because I didn't love you, it was because I loved you too much and I thought I'd lost you." I sobbed and stood up. "It's okay if you want nothing to do with me. It's okay," I whispered.

I set down the ice pack and shuffled back into my room in a daze as my soft cries echoed down the hallway. I crawled into bed, not bothering to undress or even take off these skyscraper shoes Alice had put me in. My head rested softly against my pillow as the tears began to collect on the fabric, creating dark pools beneath my cheeks. At the rate I was going, I was starting to wish I had a pillow made of Sham Wows.

I never thought I'd fall asleep after the emotional roller coaster I just experienced, but it must have worn me out because I did. I didn't remember when the line of reality and dream began to blur, but I knew it had been crossed when I found myself standing in Edward's bedroom at the Cullen's house. I felt the panic I felt that night. I felt the hurt. I felt the pieces of my heart falling to the floor.

"I just..." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't see how this is going to work." There were dark circles under his eyes as he spoke. I noticed the mounds of paper around his room, stacks of books on his desk, college admissions packets. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping. I knew he'd been stressed out about college and life after high school and just...life, but I didn't ever think it would amount to this. He was breaking up with me.

"But...people do it all the time. I won't be very far, I can visit..." I was grasping at straws, trying my best to convince him that our relationship could work. I knew it was going to be hard, but I was willing to do it because I loved him. Even with him crushing me, suffocating me with his harsh words, I loved him. I was starting to realize how dangerous love was. People who love hard, fall hard, hurt hard. Loving someone this much was giving them the power. He had the power to break me. And for some reason I didn't understand he was using it.

"Bella, please don't make this any harder than it already is..." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're just stressed, sweetheart. This will blow over." I reached out to take his hand and he stepped away. "Edward?" I shook my head in surprise before I started to get angry. "I know you feel like you can't control anything else in your life right now. I get that. Just because you can control this doesn't mean that you have the right to..."

It all made sense to me. He was grasping for something that he could hold onto. Something to make him feel like he had some type of power in his life. Apparently our relationship was it.

He felt unsure about college. His parents had been pressuring him into making a decision. He was terrified of the pressures of med school. Several colleges had offered him an athletic scholarship. His friends were all leaving. I was leaving. Everything was changing. Maybe he just couldn't handle it all. We've all been there, right? You feel like your world doesn't make sense and you fight for control over the one thing that does. It was exactly what I was doing now. Except I was on the complete opposite side.

"Edward, please," I said. "Everything's going to be okay. We'll make it through."

"I uh...I already packed your things for you." He nodded to a small box in the corner. I saw a couple of my shirts and jewelry that I'd accidentally left here on occasion. As soon as I saw the box, I knew something was different about this time. He'd never given me back my things before.

"I..." I stuttered as I struggled to breathe. "I don't understand." My eyes stung with tears. "You love me."

"I love you," he said. "I just can't be with you. It's too much." He ran his fingers through his hair and tapped his feet against the floor. He was fighting it, I could see it. He was fighting himself and all I could do is hope that my Edward would win because this person in front of me wasn't him. But he never did.

Tugging at my feet woke me from my sleep and ripped me away from my memories. My eyes fluttered a bit as I looked down towards the end of the bed. Edward set down one of my shoes and reached for the other. He carefully held onto my foot and pulled it off before setting it down with its companion.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," he said. He sucked his lip between his teeth and lingered at the end of the bed.

"S' okay." I sniffled. My eyes felt gross and crusty. I wiped at them and cleared my throat. "How's your cheek?"

"Hurts like Hell."

"I'm sorry about what happened at the club. I didn't know...I bet Alice feels terrible." I laid back down and sighed. If I had no idea what to say before, it didn't compare to now. I had no words. Literally none to rectify or ease this moment. It was the aftermath. Not just of what happened at the bar, but of everything. It was years in the making, but it was still harsh nonetheless. "Goodnight, Edward," I finally said, unsure of where his head was at or what he was thinking.

I snuggled back into my bed and stared out the window as I anxiously waited for him to retreat to his room. I sighed in relief when I heard his footsteps across the floor and nearly fainted when I felt him sink down onto the bed behind me.

I turned over on my back and watched him as he took his shoes off and shrugged out of his vest and shirt. He laid back on the bed and rested his hands behind his head.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"You got your explanation. Now I want mine." He slipped under the blankets and turned towards me. "I was an idiot for breaking up with you. You didn't deserve to take the fall for the stress I was feeling about everything else and your absence and everything that happened afterward tore me apart. It wasn't just your fault. It was mine." He paused. "And I'm sorry I ruined your birthday. Maybe we needed to talk about this, but that wasn't the time or place and it wasn't okay for me to react the way I did." He hesitantly brushed my hair out of my face. I started to speak, tried to tell him that it wasn't his fault. Jacob was a tough subject for him and he was blindsided. I didn't like his reaction, but I can't say that I didn't understand it at least a little.

"You aren't the only one who made a mistake, Bella," he interrupted me. "I didn't understand that then, but I understand it now. And...I forgive you if you can forgive me."

"You can't forgive me," I said, my voice calm and steady. "It's not forgivable."

"But it is. Because I just did."

"No." I shook my head. "You can't."

"Damn it woman, I just did." A hint of a smile touched his lips and I saw a bit of my Edward peeking out from his expression. I didn't want to believe what I was hearing. I didn't want to be heartbroken when I realized I was making it up. But here it was. Plain as day. Forgiveness.

"We have a lot to work on," I admitted.

"I never said we didn't."

I was crying again. Not because I was sad. It was because I couldn't believe this was happening. He was still here. He didn't leave and he didn't hate me. Most of all, he understood. Maybe we had to step back and take a serious look at us and what we were to each other, but even that step back was a step in the right direction. It was all I could ever ask for.

"One more thing," he said. "I'm sorry you had to see that at the ice cream shop, I had...no idea until now that you did. And just for the record, I was forcing it. She was a distraction. It just didn't work with her."

"Why not?"

"Because she wasn't you."

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><p><strong>AN: And some of you doubted a HEA after that last chapter. Our couple is on their way to a REAL second chance at love. More still to be revealed about what was going on in Bella's head, especially in regards to her feelings towards Edward at the beginning of the story.  
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**Love Like Winter is a few chapters away from completion so if you haven't started that yet, its a good time to start : )**

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**See you next week :)**


	14. The Big Question

**Thanks ImHereToReview for prereading and all of your wonderful suggestions! Go read her stuff!**

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><p>A few days later, I was waiting in the living room for Alice to pick me up for a girls' night at her place. She'd been really amazing about giving me some time to deal with things, but I knew that I owed her an explanation too. I'd lied. We'd lied. To everyone. And now I had to deal with the consequences.<p>

"Where are you going?" Edward stepped out of the kitchen. We'd been in a weird transition period. Almost like relationship Limbo. We weren't really st friends, but we weren't really more than friends at this moment. What did the hell did that even mean?

"Hanging out with Alice."

"That's trouble waiting to happen."

I smiled and checked my phone. She was late.

I stood up and shuffled towards the kitchen. Edward was making some type of chip contraption that involved a lot of melted cheese and Pizza Rolls.

"What the hell is that?" I asked.

"I invented it." He stood back and put his hands on his hips as we both stared at the heap of food.

"It looks disgusting."

"It looks delicious." He smiled. He grabbed a chip and made sure it was loaded with all the essentials before stuffing it into his mouth. I was starting to think he should start his own show on The Food Network. Cooking with Edward, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. It had a nice ring to it. "Try it."

"No." I shook my head.

"Come on," he pleaded. "Try it." He leaned back against the counter and smirked.

"Fine." I poked around the plate a little, almost like I was playing Jenga trying to find the right one. I finally grabbed a chip and held my breath before putting it in my mouth. I was expecting it to be gross, but honestly it wasn't too bad. "This is...okay," I conceded.

"I told you it was." His eyes flickered up to mine. "You've got a little... um..." He cleared his throat and pushed forward off of the counter. He wrapped one arm gently around my waist, securing me there as he swiped his finger across my chin. "Cheese," he said.

"Thanks," I whispered. He didn't move. I didn't move. I didn't even fucking breathe. It was like I was nervous all over again. First date in high school nervous. First kiss nervous. First time falling in love nervous.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Um..." I stuttered. Can he? Or better yet should he?

"I mean I know we're still...talking or whatever but am I still allowed to kiss you?"

"I think so?" I whispered.

"You think so?" He put his other arm around my waist and laughed. "Well do we need to consult with someone else to get a definite answer or can I just go for it?"

"I guess?"

He laughed again and inched forward. I held my breath as she smiled and pressed his lips gently to mine. It was soft. It was gentle. It was...really nice. I was afraid we'd start right back off where we'd left it before the Birthday Blowout, but it turns out slow and steady won the race.

He pulled back before kissing me again and rubbing his finger along the bottom hem of my shirt. I smiled against his lips and pulled back.

"Thank you," I said.

"You're...welcome." He cocked his eyebrow and shook his head before returning to his nacho mountain. Alice called an instant later and told me she was downstairs.

I grabbed my overnight bag and started towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow," I said.

"Wait!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "I mean...this isn't like the last time right? No...scrunchies involved?"

"No scrunchies." I nodded.

"Okay." He sighed. "Have fun."

I closed the door and met Alice downstairs. She had bags full of spa supplies and I couldn't say that I was too upset about having a relaxing night in.

We ordered a pizza and starting doing our nails as we watched that God-awful Britney Spears movie. I tried to protest, but Alice insisted it was one of the best chick flick movies so I endured it. My head was a little too preoccupied to care anyway and the drinks we were downing seemed to help. Alice had been acting nervous all night so her drinks were going twice as fast as mine were.

"So...I have something to tell you," she said.

"The last time someone said that to me I found my ex-boyfriend in the bedroom next to mine."

"This has nothing to do with Edward." She nodded and then stopped. "Okay there is a little part with Edward, but it's about Jasper and I."

"What is it?"

"We're engaged." She smiled and held up her left hand. I grabbed it and started screaming.

"How did I not notice this?"

"Because I just slipped it on."

"Oh my God! You're getting married!"

"I'm getting married." She laughed.

"When did this happen?"

"The day before your birthday. I didn't want to tell you and take away the attention from your birthday so I waited..." She tapped her chin. "Although I don't think Armageddon could have stolen your spotlight, sweetheart."

"Alice." I smiled sadly. "You could have told me. I'm your best friend I wouldn't have minded."

"I guess I could have shouted it during the whole Jake fucked Bella screaming match."

"That would have been helpful."

"Sorry. Next time." She patted my back. "And by the way you're my maid of honor."

"Really?" I pulled her in for a hug. "Where does Edward fit in all of this?"

"He's the best man."

"Of course he is," I sighed.

After the movie ended we got the part of the night where both of us knew it was time for "the talk." We basically shut off the movie and stared at each other, occasionally clearing our throats to ease the awkward tension.

"So..." I started.

"Why didn't you tell me, Bella?" She asked.

"I don't know. I was so embarrassed. I thought you would think I was some horrible person."

"First of all. You are not a horrible person and I could never think that. Unless maybe you led children to your gingerbread house in the woods and fried them up in your oven."

I bit down on my lip. "I don't think it would ever get that bad."

"Good. Moving on."

"I just...I was confused and hurt and angry at the whole world and everyone in it and I didn't know what to do."

"I'm always here for you. Always. I don't want you to ever question that again. Sometimes shitty things happen. Everyone fucks up at one point in their life. Do you remember Bobby from Freshman Year?"

I nodded.

"That was my fuck up," she said. She started filing her nails. "So what really happened?"

I retold the whole story again, holding back tears when I got to the bad parts. It didn't get easier to tell someone how you lost the love of your life no matter how many times you did it.

"This is like Jerry Springer type stuff. So you're sure you slept with Jake? I mean you said you didn't remember?" She asked.

"I'm sure."

She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I'm sure, Alice. Let's just say there was a little blood, a lot of soreness and one used condom on his nightstand."

"He didn't even throw it away? Sick."

"I don't think either of us were in Martha Stewart cleaning mode at the time," I said.

"Honey, that's not Martha Stewart. That's an average person. No jizz on the nightstand."

"Whatever. It's a moot point."

"So did Edward sleep with that slut?" She asked.

"I don't think she was a slut, Alice."

"Slut," she said, filing at her nail.

"And no I don't think so. He said..." I stopped.

"What did he say?"

"He said it didn't work with her because it wasn't me."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay so he fucked up, you got fucked, yet you both still loved each other. That doesn't explain either of your post-breakup behavior."

"What do you mean?"

"He breaks up with you because...well he broke up with you. He leaves town without another word. You hated him more than Voldemort hates Harry. I was surprised you didn't Avada Kedavra his ass the moment he walked in the door. What gives?"

"He left to go work with his father."

"Yeah but that doesn't explain why. You need to talk to him about that. And I still don't quite understand your feelings towards him."

I pulled my hair into a ponytail and sighed. I felt the tears start to prickle behind my eyes and I told myself not to cry. I didn't listen to myself. "He...was my whole heart," I sniffled. "When he left, he took it with him. I couldn't love him anymore because I knew that he didn't love me. The only thing I was left with was hate. I had to force myself to hate him because I couldn't love him." I shook my head. "That probably doesn't even make sense does it?"

"Of course it does. It's like Jedi mind trick shit. Love Edward, you will not."

"I guess when you force yourself into believing something for so long, it just becomes your reality." I shrugged.

"So..." Alice theorized. She liked to do this when she was drinking. I think it made her feel really smart. "Just looking at this...spiencifically..." She furrowed her eyebrow. "Scien-ti-fic-ally." She nodded. "You hated him because you loved him. And you hated him with a fiery passion when he moved in. So...does that mean that you still love him?"

I sat back and pulled my knees to my chest. "I don't know," I mumbled. Did I?

We left the subject of Edward and my birthday behind for the rest of the night and ended up passing out in front of the computer scouring wedding sites.

I was a little anxious to go home the next morning with the big question looming over my head. Sure my heart might flutter a little every time he's around. And maybe my stomach does flip flops. So what if I smile if he looks at me just right?

I quietly opened the door and stepped inside the apartment, fully expecting him to be sleeping. And he was.

I sighed when I looked across the room and found him passed out on his beanbag. He was curled up with a bag of chips and a blanket. I smiled and crossed the room so I was standing above him. There was a slight smile to his face as he slept, almost like he was listening to his favorite song in his sleep. I knelt down beside him and brushed a stray hair away from his face.

"Do I love you, Edward Cullen?" I whispered.

He reached out for me in his sleep and pulled me onto the beanbag with. I froze from the surprise, but immediately snuggled into the warmth of his chest. I smiled. Yes. I loved him.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I know its a little shorter than the others but it was really necessary and I wanted it to end where I ended it and Alice's wedding is important : ) Just a forewarning, the next couple of chapters may or may not be on time. I'm at my busiest time at work and I just adopted a little 2 month old ginger kitten named Weasley and he's a handful. He not only likes to bite at my fingers while I type but he finds my laptop a nice place to nap. **

**Last day for voting in the Lemonade Stand's Lyrics and Lemons contest is July 23rd (this Saturday) so I would appreciate it if you would head over, read the entries, leave some love for the authors, and vote for your favorites! Thanks!**

**Love Like Winter is only a few chapters away from being complete. I'm actually almost done with the chapter that reveals the mysterious attacker from the prologue so if you've been waiting for that point, now's a good time to start reading : )**

**See you guys next week (hopefully!)**


	15. The Mess I Made

**Sorry for the missed update last week folks, I was unbelievably busy! Thanks to ImHeretoReview, this story would not be what it is without her! **

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><p>I woke up to the feel of Edward's hand drifting south of my waist. It rested on the curve of my ass and his chest hummed beneath me.<p>

"Are you awake?" I whispered, cocking my eyebrow.

"No," he answered.

"Lies." I smiled and turned my face towards his. "Are you hungry?"

"It's two in the afternoon, I'm fucking starving."

"What do you want?"

"Are you offering to make me food?" He smiled.

"Possibly."

"God, I love you." He kissed my cheek. "Pancakes?"

"Pancakes," I stuttered, trying to stay calm. There was that word again. Those same damn four letters that wouldn't leave me alone last night. He couldn't have meant it _that _way right? Not yet. And not so casual.

In a span of about ten seconds I'd gone from freaking out to convincing myself that it was a "I love you because you're being nice to me" and not an "I love because I want to marry you and have babies with you." Not that there was anything wrong with option two, but I was just figuring out my feelings for him again and my vagina was not ready for childbirth just yet.

I jumped up and started towards the kitchen. He walked out the front door, mentioning something about grabbing the mail from yesterday.

Before I'd even finished making the banner, he was back holding a stack of mail. He tucked one piece into his back pocket and started towards me with a smile.

"Happy Birthday." He handed me an envelope.

"What's this?"

"I uh...I got these for you. Sorry they're a little late." He shrugged.

I grabbed the envelope and tore it open. I reached inside and pulled out two concert tickets.

"Lifehouse?" I asked. "You got me Lifehouse tickets?"

"You do still like them right? I probably should have asked."

"No, I do." I couldn't believe he remembered. They were one of my favorite bands in high school and I'd always wanted to see them. I never did. "I just...thank you." I nodded. "This is great."

I finished making the pancakes and we sat down at the dining room table to eat. Edward slathered his in syrup and managed to fit close to eight pancakes in his stomach. It was like a bottomless pit.

My conversation with Alice crept back into my head and I decided there was no better time than the present. Especially when you were about to ask your ex-boyfriend to hash out details of your soap opera worthy break up.

"Edward?" I asked as I pushed my pancakes around my plate. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes, Emmett peed his pants when he was fifteen."

I laughed a little and shook my head. "No. I wanted to ask you why."

"Why what?"

"Why you acted the way you did...after the break up? Why did you leave? If we both fucked up?" I took a shaky breath and glanced at him. He finished chewing and set his fork down.

"You wanna take a ride with me?" He asked.

"You wanna answer my question?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I promise to answer your question if you promise to take a ride with me."

"Edward, you don't have a car."

"I'll use Jasper's."

"Yeah," I laughed. "Jasper is just going to let you take his car." I grabbed my plate and took it into the kitchen before heading towards the bathroom to take a shower.

I closed the door behind me and undressed. There were various items scattered on the counter. Shaving cream, electric razor with little Edward shavings around it, toothpaste on the edge of the sink. I sighed and turned on the shower before stepping in.

When I was finished, I wrapped myself in a towel and walked back out into the kitchen. Edward was leaning against the counter smirking at me as he twirled something in his fingers.

"What's that?" I nodded at his hand.

"The key to Jasper's car."

I cocked my eyebrow. "Of course it is." I sighed and started towards my bedroom to get dressed.

I pulled on a long sleeve shirt and a sweater with my jeans. The weather had started turning cold, especially at night, and I couldn't imagine where he wanted to go now.

"Okay, I'm ready." I stepped out into the hallway and found him shrugging on a jacket.

"Let's roll." He started whistling as we left the apartment and went downstairs. I noticed that his face wasn't quite as clean shaven as usual, creating a little bit of a shadow on his jaw. Something was different about him. He was different...cracked and not so perfect in an amazingly perfect way. And I'd never seen anything more beautifully broken.

Sure enough, Jasper's car was waiting for us down at the street. I wondered to myself what Edward had to do to convince him to let us take it. I thought that a pack of beer and twenty bucks might had done the trick.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I sat down and strapped in.

Edward smiled and turned towards me as he pulled on an old faded baseball cap. "There's a storm rolling in."

My heart swelled and I couldn't help, but smile. I knew exactly where we were going.

Edward turned on the radio as we sped out of the city. I took my shoes off and allowed my feet to rest up on the dashboard. My head lulled back into the seat as I enjoyed the feel of Edward's arm stretched across the back of my headrest. I smiled and closed my eyes as I turned my head slightly towards him. The fabric of his shirt brushed lightly against my cheek and I hummed.

His arm slowly pushed forward, drifting ever so slightly closer to my shoulders. It finally rested there, his hand splayed across my shoulder as he drove us through the winding roads. I reached up and grabbed his fingers before entwining mine with his as they rested on my shoulder.

"This is kind of nice, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yeah. It is." He smiled and kept his eyes on the road as a soft blush crept to his cheeks. Yeah. This is fucking nice.

We drove until the city disappeared behind us like a speck of dust in the rearview mirror. Trees started to dot the landscape, becoming thicker and thicker with each mile. The familiar landmarks started to whiz by. Tom's Fishing Store. The canoe shop. The small clearing where we carved our names in the tree. We were going home.

We passed right by the road you take to get to my house and continued on. As we cut through town, I wondered if I should stop and see my dad. I didn't get to see him often, but I felt like tonight was something big. He would understand. I didn't want to make any more mistakes with Edward. This was our new beginning.

The sky began to turn dark as we turned off a small dirt road. It sliced through the trees and finally ended at the coast, right at the sand. A few people were packing up their cars and getting ready to take off because of the threatening storm clouds out over the water. They gave us strange looks as Edward parked the car looking out towards the sea. Sure most people went to the beach when it was sunny and nice. We were different. There was nothing I cherished more than sitting and watching a storm roll in with him.

We sat in silence for the longest time as the clouds approached us. I could see the dark mist out over the water where it was raining. I closed my eyes and smiled, remembering all the times we spent out here dancing in the rain. It was like a fairytale. I should have known it was too good to last.

I opened my eyes at the first sound of the rain pelting against the window. The downpour was completely surrounding us, making even the water ahead hard to see. Edward was staring straight ahead, gripping the steering wheel tight. He looked a lot more anxious than I'd expected and I had a feeling it had to do with our unresolved conversation from the dining room table.

"Edward?" I whispered. "Are you ready to talk?"

He didn't flinch. He just took a deep breath and his lips opened and closed like he was struggling to find the right words. "I..." He started. "I..." His eyes flickered to me and then out to the ocean. "I..." He started for the third time. "Fuck!" He sighed and opened the door, stepping out into the monsoon.

"Edward?" I squinted outside as I watched him walk around to the front of the car. I heard muffled yells as he paced around. He stopped in front over by my tire and kicked at the car a couple of times. I winced just thinking about Jasper finding dents in his bumper. I didn't think we could blame that one on a bug.

He finally stopped and just stood perfectly still as the rain crashed over his body. I could see it dripping off the brim of his hat as he stared at me through the wall of water covering the windshield. I took a deep breath and shook my head before I pushed the door open.

The rain hit me, wet and cold as I've ever felt it. I shivered and closed the door behind me. "What the hell are you doing?" I yelled, pushing my already soaked hair away from my face.

"I...I fucked it up, Bella. I left because I knew I fucked it up and I couldn't step off of my front porch without seeing your face everywhere. I couldn't stare at this mess I made with you and be okay. I wasn't okay." He shook his head. "I loved you too much to see you everyday and not have you."

"What?" I whispered, half stuttering in disbelief. I knew we'd both taken part of the blame for the break up but this felt like something beyond that.

He took the few steps between us and trapped me against the car. His arms rested on either side of my head as the rain cascaded down on the both of us.

"I should have been there...every day. Telling you I was sorry. And that I loved you. I should have waited on your fucking porch, every second of every day, until you came outside. I should have kissed you a million times until I convinced you to forgive me for what I did. That night with Jacob? Damnit, that should have been mine." He ran his finger across my cheek. "And it wasn't...because of my mistake."

I didn't realize I was crying until I felt the warm drops flowing down my cheeks, mixing in a strange way with the cold rain. He pressed his body against mine and kissed me. Not the kind of simple, gentle kisses we'd been sharing lately. But it wasn't like before either. I felt this in my bones so much so that I wish I could melt into this rain just to be that much closer to him.

His fingers brushed against my neck, my shoulder, my breast, my waist. He grabbed hold of my hips and pulled me towards him as I lifted my legs up around his torso. My hands went to his hair, pulling and tugging as I held his face to mine. I was cold. I was uncomfortable. And I'd never felt more at home.

He pulled back and kissed me again. And again. He kissed my cheeks, my lips, my nose, my eyelids until he reached my forehead. His lips rested against my skin as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close. "I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered."

I ducked my head beneath his neck and buried myself into his chest. I laid it flat against him, listening for his heart. As strange as it sounded, I wished I could fold myself up and tuck myself inside so I'd never be without him again. I wanted to live inside his heart. And I wanted him to live in mine. Forever.

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><p><strong>AN: They are too fucking adorable. *sigh* I wanted to get this update out early for you guys this week since I missed last week. I hope it was worth it!  
><strong>

**There were a few songs that were essential in writing this chapter : "September" by Daughtry and "The Mess I Made" by Parachute.**

**My entry in the Lyrics and Lemons contest placed in the Public Poll so thank you guys who read and voted in that contest! There were so many great entries and mine, "Public Enemies," is now posted on my page so I hope you'll check it out!**

**The TwiFic h00rs have graciously selected me as their featured author of the week! Thank you guys, I was so surprised and honored. Everyone please go check out their site!**

**Thanks again everyone, I'll see you next week : )**


	16. On the Ins

**I don't own. I just play. Thanks ImHereToReview for your suggestions despite your shitty computer! : )**

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><p>As soon as we got home, we stripped off our wet clothes and changed into some pajamas in complete silence. He grabbed the dryer sheets as I piled the clothes into our hamper. He slung his arm around my shoulder as we left the apartment and stumbled down the steps to the dingy laundry room in the basement of the building.<p>

There was an older woman doing her laundry at the other side of the room. She smiled at us as we walked in.

I stepped up to the first dryer and put our clothes inside. Edward threw one of the dryer sheets in as I methodically pushed the quarters into the machine. He closed the lid and hit the button, causing the thing to roar to life. It must have been at least from the Stone Age because it sounded like Freddy Krueger nails on a chalkboard.

I pulled myself up onto the dryer and kicked my legs out, one after the other, allowing my feet to thud back against the machine.

Edward sighed and settled between my knees. He took off his baseball cap and ruffled his hair before setting the hat down beside me.

"Are we okay?" He whispered, eyeing the old woman. She looked like the nosy type. Almost like she had one of those hearing devices I always saw on TV that help you spy on your neighbors. How that was even constitutional was beyond me.

"Yeah." I ran my fingers through his hair. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"You've just been a little…quiet." He shrugged.

"That's not always a bad thing." I smiled slightly. He was right. Both of us had been unusually quiet. Everything that happened back at the beach…that was huge. It takes a lot for a girl to process shit like that. But it wasn't a bad thing. Actually it was the complete opposite. Something had changed. I felt…lighter.

"I guess not." He reached down and grabbed hold of my ankles, completely stopping my movements. He cocked his eyebrow and smiled. "You're driving me crazy." He slowly caressed his way up my calf, massaging my muscles as he went.

I whimpered and closed my eyes. I heard him laugh, barely above a whisper, as he continued up. He stopped at my knees and pulled my legs farther apart. My eyes rolled into the back of my head as he pushed his chest closer to me. I rested my arms on the tops of his shoulders as he leaned into me.

"You're driving me crazy," I mumbled.

He reached up and placed his lips at my neck a moment before the old lady cleared her throat. I straightened up and froze. I'd forgotten that she was even there. We were probably giving the poor woman a heart attack.

She shuffled past us at a snail's pace glaring like she was a demon about to eat our souls.

"This room is clear," Edward whispered, mimicking his best Poltergeist voice. I laughed and rested my forehead on his shoulder, trying to hide from her.

I jumped as a loud thud hit the floor and I thought for sure that we'd killed her. I was going to Hell.

I sighed in relief when I looked and saw she'd just dropped her laundry basket.

"Here, let me help you," Edward said, rushing to her side. He quickly picked up all of her things and put them back in the basket. "Can I help you carry this to your apartment?"

"That would be fine, young man. Thank you," she said. She glanced back at me before walking out. Edward grabbed her basket and told me he'd be right back.

He returned ten minutes later, throwing something small up in the air. "She gave me an apple," he laughed.

"That was very nice of you," I said, reaching out for him. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me, helping an old lady and all."

He leaned forward and brushed his nose lightly against mine. "I try to seduce you from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep, Bella."

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. "Good." I smiled. "Hey, I…" I trailed off.

"What?"

"Will you go…to the concert with me, I mean?"

"I didn't get you those tickets so you would ask me."

"I know you didn't. But I want you to go. So, will you?"

"Are you asking me out?" He smirked.

"Yes?"

"Okay Bella. I'll go out with you. But don't think I'm putting out on the first date."

"I wouldn't dream of it." I laughed.

I hopped down when the dryer stopped and threw our hot clothes into the hamper. Edward carried it back upstairs to the apartment and we lounged around for the rest of the night.

The next couple of weeks flew by. Alice was in hard-core wedding planning mode since they were trying to throw something together by May. I read every book and watched every DVD I could about being a bridesmaid in between taking notes from Mr. David Tutera himself. It was exhausting. There were guest lists, table settings, color schemes, lighting, photography…and that didn't even include food or clothing. I was thankful that this was probably the one and only time I'd have to be a maid of honor or in a wedding at all…well except for mine I guess.

I started making lists of everything I had to take care of as the M.O.H. Thankfully, Alice was planning a smaller wedding so it wasn't overwhelming yet. I was just waiting for her to turn into a Bridezilla and stomp out the buildings of downtown Seattle with her stiletto heels.

"What are you doing?" Edward asked, walking into the kitchen. He stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist as he read over my shoulder.

"Just going over my list for Alice." I scanned down the list again, thinking of anything I could have forgotten.

"What's a trow-see-oo?" He asked, completely butchering the name.

"Trousseau," I said, using my high school French. "It means lingerie."

I made a few more notes. "You can put me down as helping with that shopping trip." He squeezed me tighter.

"Okay," I laughed. "I'm sure you're an expert."

"I am." He ran his hand lightly across my belly. "Especially when you're modeling it."

I took in a shaky breath. "Are you ready for the concert?"

"Ready, woman." He tightened his grip on me and hoisted me away from the counter. He grabbed my purse along the way and slung it over his shoulder. "Does this purse make me look fat?" He asked, closing the door and whisking me out of the apartment.

The concert was at a smaller bar, which I was thankful for. I tended to go for the more intimate atmospheres opposed to the big arenas. The only thing those were good for were sweaty armpits in your face.

Edward grabbed us a table towards the side of the stage and went to the bar to get us some drinks. My phone vibrated in my purse and I knew it was Alice.

**Are you doing the deed 2night?**

I sighed in frustration and typed her back. **Alice, it's only our first date…again. Kind of. **I scrunched my nose out trying to that one out. I needed a flow chart or something.

**So. You love him. He loves you. Your vagina loves protection. Be safe ; )**

My fingers punched furiously against the keys. **Eat me, bitch.**

I was about to put my phone away, but she sent me a quick one back. **Exactly.**

"I didn't know what you wanted so I got you a beer," Edward said, appearing suddenly beside me. I screamed and dropped my phone onto the floor. As he bent down to pick it up, I prayed to all things Holy that he did not read that screen. I was ready to ninja kick it out of his hands, but he quickly set it back on the table and smiled at me.

My conversation with Alice had gotten me all worked up. I wasn't even thinking about sex with Edward tonight. Okay, that was a lie. It is Edward. But it didn't go past me fantasizing about licking chocolate off of his body or him taking me on top of the dryer in the laundry room. I mean I didn't realistically think about it…not tonight. But as he?

I chanced a sideways glance at him as I sipped my beer. I mean I knew that he would never pressure me, especially with how important sex is to us after everything that happened…but was he _thinking_ about it?

I took a sip of his beer and my heart fluttered as his tongue quickly darted out to taste it. Well fuck if I wasn't thinking about it now. Damn you, Alice.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked.

I lingered on his lips a moment longer before breaking my gaze and glancing up at him. "Yeah. Why?"

"Your eye was kinda twitching again."

"I'm fine. Just got something in my eye." I quickly rubbed at my eye to cover and tried to push that annoying little voice in my head. It sounded distinctly like Alice and that made it so much worse.

We waited another twenty minutes before the opening act went on. They were a smaller group with one song that I recognized from the radio. As time went on, I became more and more relaxed. The anxiety I'd felt before was slowly drifting away from me the more time I spent with him. Sure he still sent my heart into a tailspin and my lady bits into a tingle fit, but I was under control. I'd finally convinced myself that everything was okay and I was overreacting.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Edward asked. He leaned over and rested his hand on my thigh. I didn't even tense.

"Yeah," I said with a smile. And it was. Everything was perfect.

By the time Lifehouse came on, I was slightly buzzed without a care in the world. Not tonight at least. Our new step forward was starting on the right foot despite the few stumbles along the way.

Edward kept scooting his chair closer and closer to mine, eventually draping his arm over the back of mine. He leaned in and kissed just below my ear as he nuzzled into my neck. When Lifehouse was finished, we decided to stay and have a few more drinks. Edward left to get us another round and I was left feeling like I was on fucking Cloud Nine. It was perfect. We were perfect tonight. My heart was doing cartwheels like an excited five year old. Everything was going to work.

I peeked over the crowds, looking for Edward. I saw him leaning over the bar waiting for our drinks. The bartender was obviously flirting with him, but I could see he wasn't returning fire. He smiled politely and handed her some money before walking away with our drinks.

"Did you make a friend?" I asked sarcastically.

"She wishes." He laughed and set our drinks down. He chose to stand instead of take his seat again. He leaned over the table, resting his elbows on the top as we talked. It was nice, getting to know him again, the new him. I didn't realize I'd been so wrapped up in who he was and who we were that I had been missing all the new parts of him.

"So, have you thought any more about med school?" I asked.

Something flickered in his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak, but we were interrupted.

"Oh. My. God." The nasally voice screamed from behind us. I knew it in an instant and wondered if I was having that nightmare about my high school reunion again.

"Oh my God," I whispered.

"Oh my God," Edward mumbled, sighing in disgust and covering his eyes with his hand.

"Bella Swan!" Lauren screamed.

I put on a fake smile as she tottered towards us, barely able to walk in her shoes. She leaned in for a hug and a piece of her hair somehow ended up in my mouth. I started frantically trying spit it out without her knowing, but only ended up gagging on the pounds of hairspray.

"Hi, Lauren. How are ya?" I patted her back and tried to pull away from her iron grip. _Fake bitch, _I thought. She hated me in high school, I was fairly sure her feelings hadn't changed much.

"Lauren," Edward said, nodding.

She turned towards him and gasped. "Edward Cullen!" She squealed and threw her arms around him. "I haven't seen you in ages! I thought you'd fallen off the face of the planet." She laughed.

I wanted to vomit. Then punch her face. And then vomit again. This was fucking Hell.

Lauren's eyes flickered between Edward and I. She raised an eyebrow and pointed at us. "Now, what's going on here? Last I knew, you two were on the outs. Way on the outs." She leaned towards Edward. "Do you have a girlfriend, Edward?"

He glanced towards me as he struggled for something to say. We weren't. But we were. I felt like this relationship Limbo was under scrutiny and it pissed me off. Who the hell did she think she was?

I narrowed in on her hand resting on Edward's arm. I clenched my fists and glared at her. _Mine._

"Sorry, Lauren. I'm seeing someone." Edward tried to politely brush her off. I was so irate I barely noticed that he was watching me like someone would watch a wild animal that's about to strike. National Geographic was going to be sad they missed out on this.

"But it's not serious, right?" She purred. She giggled and turned to me. I would say that I was surprised that she didn't catch on, but strangely I couldn't. It was Lauren after all. "So Bella, what have you been up to? Did you run into Edward at the concert? It was so good wasn't it, Lifehouse is so amazing." She turned back to Edward without even waiting for my answer. "So my parents bought this amazing cabin up in the mountains. You should come up there with me sometime. There's this nice little hot tub right out on the deck." She smiled and leaned in close to him. She started whispering in his ear and batting her glue on eyelashes at him like she was bobbing bait in front of a fish.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Listen, bitch. You didn't like me in high school so you can cut this catching up bullshit and just get to the point. Not that it's any of your fucking business, but Edward and I are now on the ins." I raised my fingers to do air quotes. "And for the fucking record, I didn't run into him here. I ran into him at our apartment." I crossed my arms. "So unless you're dropping off a housewarming gift, I suggest you move along and stop pretending to talk to me to get into Edward's pants. Because it's not happening."

She glowered at me as she shot a stink eye in my direction. "Bout time you started fighting for him…Bitch..." She crossed her arms and walked away.

I couldn't believe I did that. I never had the balls to do that in high school. Damn, it felt good.

"Holy Shit, Bella!" Edward gasped.

"Was I too harsh?" I didn't mean to be cruel. Well, maybe I did, but I was sick of her rubbing her poorly manicured hands over my man.

"That was fucking hot." He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head. "Let's get out of here." He kissed me, grabbed my hand and toted me out of the bar.

It took us forever to get a taxi and I was absolutely exhausted by the time we crawled into one. I rested my head lightly on his shoulder and ended up falling asleep not even two minutes into our ride.

"Come on, sweetheart, we're home," Edward whispered.

I shook my head, protesting my impending wake up. I heard him laugh before he scooped me up and kicked the door of the cab shut. The next thing I knew, I was in bed…his bed. And his shirt.

I rolled over and hit his bare chest. He smiled at me and kissed me. "Hi."

"I don't wanna have sex yet," I mumbled. Word vomit. _Shit. Wake up, Bella, before you say anything else stupid._

"Bella, you drooled all over my shirt."

"That's not sexy at all," I mumbled, half asleep. I fought to keep my eyes open and petted his face.

"It's a little sexy," he smirked as he snuggled into bed. He laughed a moment later as he turned towards me. "Besides. I already told you I wasn't putting out. What kind of guy do you think I am?" He pulled the blankets over us as I giggled back to sleep.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for being patient while I get this out to you. Still busy time for me! : )**

**The final Love Like Winter chapter is with the beta so once I get that back there'll only be one epilogue left. I invite you to read it if you haven't already!**

**Thanks again for your support and your reviews, it means a lot to me. See you next week!**


	17. Corsets and Cookies

**Twilight isn't mine. Thank you ImHereToReview for finding my boo boos. : )**

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><p>I woke up the next morning to complete darkness even though I swore my eyes were open. My mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that sometime during the night I had in fact gone blind so I naturally started freaking out.<p>

"Oh God!" I screamed, clawing at my face. My heart did a flip flop as Edward's arm lifted from my face, blinding me with the morning light that filled the room.

"What?" He asked, his eyes wide with panic.

I clutched at my chest and told myself to breathe. "I thought I went blind, but your arm was just…" I stammered.

"You thought you went blind?" He asked.

"Yes," I whispered.

"Never a dull moment." He sighed and laid back in bed.

Now that I was aware that I would in fact see his beautiful face again, my hangover hit me like the smell of shit on a farm.

"Argh," I mumbled. I rolled over and buried myself into his chest, almost wishing I was still in the dark. Today was not going to be fun. "What did I drink last night?"

"I think the better question is, 'Edward, what did I say last night?'" He smirked.

I sat up and whipped my head around. "What did I say?" I racked through my memories of last night fast than a bat out of hell trying to remember any embarrassing moments. None came to mind. That didn't mean they didn't happen, I just didn't remember them. Which was a fucking problem.

"Edward…" He mimicked my voice and started rubbing his fingers sloppily down my face. "I don't wanna have sex yet."

I couldn't breathe. Did I really say that? I cringed and pulled the blanket up over my head to hide my embarrassment.

"Bella," he scolded playfully, pulling at the blankets. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Did I really say that?"

"Well, yes."

"Then it's that bad. I'm mortified."

He managed to find his way under the covers and smiled at me. "Don't be mortified. We're not ready yet." He brushed my hair away from my face and looked away. Almost like he was trying to avoid the subject. I couldn't explain why but at that exact moment Madonna's "Like a Virgin" started playing in my head. He couldn't be…could he?

"Are you…" I paused. "Are you a virgin, Edward?"

"No," he answered. "That ship has sailed." He smiled sadly and leaned forward to press his lips to mine.

"Was it that bitch from the diner?" I asked.

"No." He shook his head. "Sophomore year of college. It was right after I finally decided it was okay to let you go…or so I thought. I guess I suck at letting things stay buried. Not that I'm complaining."

"Why did you wait so long? I mean, what changed?"

"I uh…I saw you."

"You saw me?" I didn't understand. I'd thought he was gone. How had he seen me when I hadn't see him?

"Eric Yorkie's end of summer party," he said softly. "It was right after I'd got back from South America and on a whim I decided to go. Thought maybe it would be good for me."

I thought back to that party right before my junior year of college. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary that happened. It made my chest ache now to know that he was there and I didn't know.

"Why didn't I see you?" I asked.

"Because I hid in my car."

"Why?" I stuttered.

"I was a fucking nervous wreck. I saw you with Alice and you looked…you looked happy."

"Even if I was happy I still missed you. I wish you would have…" I trailed off and shook my head.

He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.

My phone rang, which probably meant Alice was downstairs waiting for me to go shopping for her lingerie.

"Al?" I answered. "I'll be down in a minute."

"I'm going to be late," she said.

"That's not possible." I laughed. "Alice Brandon is not late."

"There was an emergency with the place settings, I have to run to the place and make sure they don't fuck it up."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No. No, you go ahead and start looking. I'll meet you there as soon as I can."

"Okay." I shrugged and hung up. "Alice is going to be late." I didn't rush to get out of bed, but eventually got dressed and started towards the door with Edward trailing behind me.

"You know my offer to assist is still open," he said with a smirk, as he pulled on a pair of jeans.

"You don't know anything about lingerie," I said. He laughed and crossed the floor to stand in front of me.

"Bella..." he purred. He reached down and gripped my waist. "I know what looks good on a woman. What accents her curves in all the right places." He slipped his finger under the hem of my shirt and caressed my skin. "You need a guy's perspective. I'm your guy." He nodded.

"Okay, fine." I opened the door for him as he smiled and walked smugly out into the hallway.

It was an unusually warm day outside so Edward and I decided to walk. We stayed close through the packs of people on the sidewalk. Each time we would bump into each other, he would reach for my hand like he was going to take it in his but he never did. I half thought he was doing it on purpose, almost like he was teasing me with the light flutter of his skin against mine. The half smile he was trying to hide told me so.

We finally reached the store and I cleared my throat as we passed by the lacy materials on display in the window. Edward held the door open for me and growled under his breath as we stepped inside.

He placed his hand on the small of my back as we started down the middle of the store. I didn't know why, but I was overly uncomfortable in an amazing way being here with Edward.

"Calm down, woman. It's just lingerie," he whispered as the saleswoman approached us.

"Hello and welcome!" She smiled. "Are you two shopping for a special occasion? Maybe an anniversary?"

I shook my head. "No," I squeaked. "We're not…" I looked at Edward. "I mean…"

Edward laughed and smiled at the woman. "We're shopping for a friend. For her wedding."

"Oh," she said, kinking her eyebrow. "Right this way." She started towards the back of the store.

"Why'd she look at me like that?" Edward asked.

"Because I don't think it's very typical to see men in here unless they're shopping with their significant other."

"But you are my significant other."

"Am I significant?" I turned towards him and smiled.

"Very." He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

I grasped his hand firmly in mine as we scurried back to find the lady. She had just stopped and turned around to greet us again.

"This is our wedding collection, reserved for that special evening. Will your friend be joining us?" She asked.

"Uh…" I glanced down at my phone. There was a missed text from Alice. I sighed and showed it to Edward.

"Still here. They ordered us aubergine instead of eggplant. Have to reschedule," he read. "What the fuck is aubergine?"

I shrugged and tucked my phone back into my pocket. "I'm sorry, we'll have to come back…thank you for your help." I started to turn, but Edward pulled my hand back.

"Well we're here. We might as well do some research so we're thoroughly prepared for when we bring Alice back," he said, almost as seriously as if we were doing actual research in a library.

"Research?"

He stepped over and ran his finger over one of the get ups. "How do you feel about corsets?"

"No way! I'm not trying those on." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and shook my head.

"Come on." Edward smirked and stepped in close. "I'll give you a cookie."

"What kind of cookie?" I asked.

"A really, really good one," he said, quickly licking his lips.

"Okay," I stuttered.

Twenty minutes later I was standing in the dressing room staring at the terrifying contraptions hanging on the hook in front of me. Lace, leather, mesh, tassels. All of it.

I was never really into the whole lingerie thing before. To be honest, I wasn't one of those girls who felt _that_ sexy. I was more of a shorts and old t-shirt kind of girl. These were maybe a sleeve of an old t-shirt.

"Edward," I said, gulping hard. "I don't know about this."

"Why not?" He answered from outside.

"Because I won't look right in it."

I heard him get up and walk over to the door. He peeked his head inside. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not…sexy." I looked down at the floor. I sounded ridiculous. This was making me feel like I did when I was standing in line to get on my first rollercoaster. All I could hope for was that it wouldn't end up like that experience and I'd avoid puking into a guy's bowl of nachos. Luckily there was no one around except for Edward.

"You are very sexy." He leaned down and kissed me. Hard. Lips. Tongue. And teeth.

I moaned into his mouth and grabbed hold of his shirt. His lips trailed down my jaw and to my neck as he told me over and over again how sexy I was. I was actually starting to believe it.

It wasn't that I was completely innocent sexually…obviously. But ever since that night with Jake, I was never really comfortable with my own sexuality and feeling confident about myself like that. It was tough for me to admit it. I almost felt like as soon as I put anything remotely sexy on, I'd feel absolutely ridiculous and start laughing or crying hysterically.

"Okay, I'll try it," I mumbled.

He slipped back out as I pulled the first garment off the hanger. It wasn't anything too intense. Just a red corset with matching boy shorts. I wasn't so sure about the thigh highs that went along with it.

I slowly peeled my clothes off and finagled the bottoms on. They barely covered my ass and I was sure I had an extensive cheek display going on. I struggled to roll on the thigh highs and managed to connect them well enough that they would stay on. When I slipped on the corset, I realized it laced up the entire back and seeing as I was not double jointed or Inspector Gadget, I knew I needed help.

I cracked open the door. "Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"I need some um…help." I sighed as he walked over.

"What's up?"

"I can't…" I turned around and showed him.

"Oh," he whispered. "Okay, let me see what I can do here." He cocked his eyebrow in heavy concentration as his fingers fumbled with the ties. I shivered as his skin brushed against my back and pulled my hair over my shoulder as I looked back at him.

It took him a few minutes, but he finally got everything laced up. I took a deep breath and turned around to face him.

"So, what do you think?" I mumbled.

His eyes widened as he scanned up and down my body. He sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth and shook his head as a sly grin spread across his face. "Mmmm…." He sighed. "We're going to have to tell Alice that this one just won't work."

"Why?" I glanced down at myself in horror. "Does it look that bad?"

He stepped inside of the dressing room and closed the door behind him. "No. It's because it looks too fucking good on _you_." He grabbed my hips and pushed me up against the wall.

"Edward, stop!" I scolded. "We're going to get in trouble."

"Not if you're quiet."

"You know I'm not quiet," I said, fighting a smile.

He growled and nipped at my lips as his hand slinked down the front of my corset. They reached the bottom and slipped into the front of my shorts, pulling them slightly away from my skin.

"We're definitely buying this," he whispered, nodding to my ensemble.

"I think we'd have to anyway since this is probably not an…approved dressing room activity." I whimpered as he dipped his fingers lower. "Holy shit!" I screamed as he slipped his fingers inside me. He smiled and kissed just below my ear. I lifted my leg and wrapped it around his waist as he worked me over. And fuck, he worked me over.

I panicked as someone knocked on the door. "Excuse me, is everything alright in there?" She asked.

"I'm fine!" I yelled.

"Unclench, love," Edward sighed. "Relax."

He leaned forward and kissed me, taking my mind off of where we were. I got slightly excited when I realized I could cross "Dressing Room Tryst" off of my bucket list, but a part of me was still incredibly nervous that we were going to get caught.

"Are you close?" He whispered.

"Yes," I whimpered. I closed my eyes and used his shoulders as leverage to move my hips in perfect rhythm with his hand. His free hand shot to my mouth just as I was about to scream out.

"Quiet, woman." He laughed and buried his head into my neck.

To my horror, the door swung open and we were caught with our pants down…well my pants down. Literally.

The saleslady stood staring at us with her jaw agape. "Can I have a…word with you two, please?" She turned on her heel and exited the area.

Fifteen minutes later, we were walking back home with a brand new purchase and a free gift of edible body oils.

"Alice, I'm sorry we can't go back to that store," I told her over the phone.

"Why? I thought it had a lot of good stuff," she said.

"It did, it did." I twirled a piece of hair in my fingers as the blush crept to my cheeks. "We just…literally can't go back. We sort of got kicked out."

"You got banned at a lingerie store!"

Edward grabbed the phone. "Alicat. Listen, it was a misunderstanding. We'll explain later. Gotta go." He hung up and handed me my phone back.

"Misunderstanding?"

"Yeah. I mean what did they expect me to do when they sold such amazing products? They obviously misunderstood." He shrugged.

"I'm so embarrassed."

He laughed and hunched down in front of me. "Want a ride?"

"Yes." I slowly crawled onto his back as I pouted about our misadventure. "I didn't even…" I started.

"Don't worry about that, I'll take care of you later," he mumbled, squeezing my thighs.

I rested my head on his shoulder, sad and depressed until I spotted the sign across the street. Bakery.

"That way!" I pointed.

"Why?"

I sighed. "You owe me a cookie."

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><p><strong>AN: I want some of Edward's cookies!**

**Thanks again for your never ending patience, I just have a couple of announcements:**

**I posted the prologue for my next project, a mini fic called Dead Man Walking and you guys should definitely check it out and put it on alert. I have everything but the epi written and as soon as I get the bulk back from my beta, I'll be posting a chapter a day (around 10ish chapters total).**

**Secondly, I'm going to be involved in a new contest with some loverly ladies. It's a historical one shot contest and by historical we mean anything before 2000. Give us your Discowards and Hippiespers people. More info to follow :)**


	18. It's the Great Wishing Well, Bella Swan

**I bow down to ImHereToReview bc she's amazing!**

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><p>I knew it wasn't morning yet. Something in the pit of my stomach told me it wasn't. Or maybe it was the fact that the room was still dark.<p>

Something poked my back. After a few moments, I realized that was what woke me up in the first place. Poke. Poke. Poke.

"Please tell me that's your finger…" I mumbled.

"It's not," Edward said.

"Oh God!" I screamed and frantically turned over to face him in the bed. I was met with his foot practically in my face.

"I told you it wasn't my finger…" He smirked in the darkness and laughed a little. I reached over and turned on the lamp so I could see a little better. He was sitting perpendicular to me, his back up against the wall, knees up and his feet right at my back.

"What are you doing?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. I glanced over at the clock. It was three in the morning.

"I can't sleep. Just thinking…"

"About what?"

"I just uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck and paused. "Wanted to…wake you up  
>in the middle of the night to say. I will never walk away again. I'm never going leave this bed."<p>

"Edward, that's a Maroon 5 lyric." I sighed.

"I don't appreciate being accused of plagiarism, Bella." He crossed his arms.

I grumbled and got out of bed. I shuffled to my room and looked for my IPod, smiling out the window at the pretty snow that had started to fall. I couldn't believe it was almost Christmas. These few months with Edward had flown by.

As I walked back to his room, I scrolled through to find the song. Once I was ready I handed him the earphones and hit play.

He smiled and started bobbing his head to the music. "Man, I love this song."

I glared at him and crawled back into bed. I grabbed my pillow and threw it next to him. Instead of laying back down where I was, I cuddled up next to him and started playing with his fingers.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

"Marriage."

My heart jumped into my throat. "What about it?"

"I don't know. It's just crazy to me that Alice and Jasper are getting married. Are we really that old?" He turned towards me and smiled.

"I guess so."

"I mean…do you ever wonder…if we would have stayed together…." He trailed off.

"What?"

"That could have been us now."

"But it's not for a reason, Edward. That version of us would have never been ready for marriage."

"Yeah," he said, slowly nodding. "I guess I just wish…Where's a damn wishing well when you need one?"

I smiled. "Guess we just have to make our own luck."

"Please. I'm the king of improvisation." He hopped out of bed and left the room, grabbing his wallet along the way. A minute later I heard the bathtub running.

"What are you doing?" I yelled. I groaned and got out of bed, following the tinkle tankle of the water.

When I reached the bathroom, Edward was standing all proud and cocky with his hands on his hips, watching the tub fill. When there was a sufficient amount of water, he reached into his wallet and grabbed a few coins.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked.

"No. Who says a wishing well has to be something fancy? The way I see it it's just a big bathtub anyway." He handed a few coins. "What do you wish for?"

I smiled and felt my heart flutter. He's so fucking cute.

"I wish my mom lived closer…" I mumbled, throwing a coin into the tub. It quickly sank to the bottom, landing with a small clink.

"I wish you'd stop wearing underwear…" He said. He smirked and tossed a coin in. I punched his shoulder.

"This is serious!" I stomped my foot. "You wanted to do this."

"Okay fine." He tossed another coin. "I wish for a day with no regrets." His face took a more serious tone as he watched it sink.

"I wish for a life without any more guilt." I tossed one in.

"I wish I'd get into med school."

"I wish you'd get into med school," I mumbled.

"I wish you'd come with me if I go…"

My mind went blank and felt congested at the same time. In fact I felt like I had more thoughts in my head than junk in my Aunt Greta's house. That shit belonged on Hoarder's. My mind was a Hoarder. Fuck.

Before I could even stammer out a half-assed response, the water suddenly stopped running from the faucet. I thought for a second that Edward had just turned it off, but he stood in front of me just as frozen as I was.

"What happened?" I asked, glancing towards the tub.

"I don't know." He scratched his head and leaned down to tinker with the knobs. No matter how much he twisted or turned them, the faucet didn't even think about dripping.

"Fix it!" I said, getting more and more panicked. I ran to the kitchen and turned on the sink. Nothing. No moisture at all.

"I'm not a plumber, woman, give me a break." He stood up and checked the bathroom sink. Nada.

"This can't be happening. I have to cook a huge holiday dinner today. Your parents are coming over. We can't go to Old Country Buffet like we did at Thanksgiving when I Christmas Vacationed the turkey. I need water. I need water now." I was on the verge of tears.

"We'll work it out, Bella. You still have what?" He looked down at his watch. "Like four or five more hours before you even have to think about starting to cook? Maybe it's just a fluke thing."

Four or five hours later, I was sitting on the couch staring at Edward who was staring at the sink. No water.

"I guess call the landlord?" He leaned down and looked around a bit under the sink.

I cursed and grabbed my phone. I scrolled through my contacts and found the right number. I'd only talked to the guy twice. Once when I toured the apartment and once when I paid rent. That was it.

"Hello?" He answered, sounding like he was chomping chips. Edward might get along well with this guy.

"Hello. This is the resident in 203…we're having some water issues."

"So is the entire building. Busted pipe. Nobody has any water."

"What?" I managed to sputter out. "No water."

"No water," he repeated.

"Well, how long until they get it fixed?"

"Didn't say," he mumbled. He didn't seem too concerned that none of his tenants had water.

"Man, I gotta drop a dookie," Edward said to himself.

"Sir, this is an emergency. I have a dinner to cook. How am I supposed to steam vegetables with no steam?" I glanced nervously at Edward. "And we need a bathroom."

"The coffee shop on the next block down is allowing people to use their bathroom. Other than that I can't do anything." He hung up without a "Sorry I'm ruining your life" or any other helpful suggestions.

I set the phone down and promptly grabbed a pillow to scream into and then punch to death. When I looked back up, Edward was walking around pinching the marble, if you know what I mean.

"Coffee shop down the street," I sighed.

He smiled and walked over to kiss me on the cheek before heading out.

While Edward was gone our not so sympathetic landlord stopped by to give everyone an update on the situation.

"Should be back up and running in a few hours…" He said.

"I don't have a few hours. What exactly is wrong?" I asked.

"Apparently our pipes were out of date. Recent cold weather we've been having was too much for them."

Edward stepped in halfway through our conversation looking a lot more comfortable.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"He's got bum pipes." I nodded to the landlord.

The landlord shrugged, still seemingly uninterested in our debacle.

"Listen," Edward said. He turned towards him with one of those "I'm smiling at you but I'm really pissed off" smiles. "You will have this water up and running in less than thirty minutes or I will call the city or the Better Business Bureau or whoever I have to call to get your ass reported."

I took a step back, surprised and extremely turned on by Edward's aggressive attitude towards the Douchelord.

"I'll see what I can do," the guy said, still unconvinced of the urgency.

"And I'll see what I can do about not shoving my foot up your ass. Now make it happen and get out of my apartment, you're pissing me off!" Edward crossed his arms and waited for him to leave.

"Holy fuck," I whispered, biting down on my lip. My Lady Bits were quivering with anticipation every time his eyebrow kinked up.

The landlord not so secretly flipped Edward off and left the apartment.

"Can you do that again?" I breathed.

"Do what?"

"I don't know…be all angry and stuff."

"Why?"

I blushed and started wringing my hands together. It was all I could do not to reach out and rip his pants off.

"Why, Bella?" A hint of smirk tinged his lips, but he managed to keep a serious face.

"No reason, I guess." I sat down on the couch.

He walked over and stood in front of me. Bella face to Edward crotch. It was as if I was window shopping for my favorite lollipop.

"Did you find that interesting?" He asked.

"Maybe just a little bit," I said, keeping my eyes on his zipper. It wasn't completely zipped, popping open just a little bit at the top. Just enough for me to see a patch of his black boxer briefs.

"You want?" He asked, leaning over the couch. He placed a hand on either side of my shoulders on the back and cocked his eyebrow.

I nodded and licked my lips. I hooked my legs around his and forced his waist closer to me. He closed his eyes as I reached for his jeans, undoing the button and the zipper quickly. I yanked them down, pulling his boxers down just enough to spot the top curve of his ass and the deep V of his muscles in the front.

My stomach was halfway in my throat as I reached for his waistband and tugged slightly. Just as I was about to see his glorious manmeat, a knock at the door startled us both. Edward jumped about ten feet in the air, causing me to rip his boxers off and his hard dick to hit me in the face. I stood motionless and in shock from what had just occurred. I got dick slapped.

"Who is it?" Edward growled.

"It's Mom, honey. Sorry we're a little early!"

He quickly tucked himself back inside his boxers and pulled his pants on.

"A little early?" He whispered. "They weren't supposed to be here for another three hours!"

He shook his head and started towards the door, adjusting himself as he went.

He smiled as he opened the door and Esme and Carlisle stepped inside.

"Hey, Mom." He hugged her and shook Carlisle's hand as Esme ran over to me. I still couldn't speak.

"I hope we're not intruding being here this early, Bella," Esme said. "I'd be happy to help with the food if you'd like."

"We have no water," I said, finally finding my voice.

"Oh no!" Esme said. "That's not acceptable. How much do you need, we can run to the store?"

"You're going to go buy water to cook with?" I asked.

"Well we need it don't we?" She turned to Carlisle. "Honey, take Edward and go get some gallons of water. Just the cheap stuff." She smiled and turned back to me to tell me all about Emmett's new job.

Edward and Carlisle returned a half hour later with enough water to look like they were stocking up for the Apocalypse. Esme helped me with dinner and everything turned out fine, except for the fact that all I could think about was getting my hands…among other things on Edward.

He kept watching me as we ate, occasionally brushing his fingers over my thigh as he spoke with his father. It wasn't helping. I narrowed my eyes at him a couple of times, willing him to stop before I had a sexual breakdown at the dinner table.

I cleared my throat and leaned in when he squeezed my leg. "You're driving me fucking crazy," I whispered in his ear. "I still want."

"And I still want, but we have company," he whispered back.

I leaned back and pouted the rest of the time. Sure it was juvenile, but I was pissed. I wanted alone time now.

I was itching and writhing in my chair by the time his parents left. As soon as the door locked, I took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

"Eager much?" He asked, laughing under his breath as I peeled his pants off again.

"Yes, I'm eager okay!" I huffed. "And if you ever dick slap me again, I will cut it off…" I sighed. "Actually no I won't." I shook my head and scrunched my nose. "For various reasons actually…uh…yep."

He laughed and rested his head back on the bed as I pulled him out of his boxers. This time I wasn't opening that door for anyone. I didn't care if it was Jake Gylenhaal or the guy with the big check. That door was fucking closed and Bella was open for business.

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><p><strong>AN: ImHereToReview: "Hooker." LOL**

**So this chapter obviously came before I was expecting on the 5th, but I got it done early so here it is. At this point, with how busy RL is, I'm still going to shoot for the once a week update but it might get a little wonky so just stay with me. :)**

**Dead Man Walking was my mini fic and it is now complete and up for Fic of the Week at TLS. There's only today left to vote and not all day so if you haven't already, head to TLS (link on my profile for The Lemonade Stand) and give it a vote! Thanks!**

**Some of my cohorts and I will also be hosting a one shot contest with a historical theme. More info to come later.**

**I will also be doing a fundraiser for October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. More info on this later too!**

**Thanks XOXO**

**p.s. no Bella will not always be cockblocked or dick slapped ; )**


	19. Jagged Little Pieces

**A/N: I did use a playlist for the end of this chapter including songs like "Everything" by Lifehouse, "Into the Night" by the Motorhomes, Sia and "If You Were Here" by the Cary Brothers.**

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><p>It was the biggest snowstorm the city had seen in years. Everything was closed, which was saying a lot since it was New Year's Eve. There was an order to stay off the nearly impassible streets. Yet our Chinese Food delivery guy still managed to trek through the snow to bring us our dinner.<p>

Edward and I were camped out on the couch surrounded by mounds of pillows and blankets. We were both wearing our new onesie footie pajamas, courtesy of Esme for our Christmas present. They had little monkeys and bananas on them and I loved them. It's the little things, people.

"There's something about snow that makes me feel so lazy," Edward said, stretching his arms over his head.

"Just the snow?" I laughed. "I haven't noticed any difference." I rolled over and off the couch before walking over to the big window. "It's so beautiful though isn't it?" I looked down onto the perfectly untouched white wonderland below us. "It's so…pure or something…" I whispered.

He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "We should go dirty it up then," he said, smirking into my hair.

"Shall we?" I asked. He grabbed my hand and spun me around as I skipped towards the closet. I reached inside and grabbed our hats, scarves and mittens so we could wrap up for the cold. I pulled on some boots and my coat before anxiously looking at the door.

"Let's go." Edward smacked my monkey butt and we headed outside.

The cold air hit me like a slap in the face as soon as we stepped from the building. The neighborhood was practically deserted, except for a small group of kids playing on the next block. There was something definitely nostalgic about this. It wasn't like I got to experience many snow days growing up or anything, but I could imagine this was how I would feel. Or possibly I'm pretending I do because I used to be obsessed with that movie Snow Day and those kids were fucking excited. Like Snow Days were the best thing since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers hit the scene.

Edward stepped out onto the street, or what I thought was the street, and did a cartwheel. As he landed he slid on the ice and fell to the ground. Instead of acting embarrassed by his flub, he immediately transitioned into making a snow angel like it was his plan all along. I couldn't even imagine how cold his legs must be in only those pajamas.

I leaned down and grabbed a chunk of snow, rolling it and compacting it between my hands as it formed into a ball.

"Hey, Cullen!" I yelled. Edward popped his head up just as I launched the snowball his way. It missed by a long shot.

"If that wasn't such a shitty shot, you'd be in big trouble." He smirked and lunged towards me anyway as I protested.

"You said it was a shitty shot!" I screamed as he enveloped me in his arms.

"I did. But I also said you avoided big trouble, not no trouble at all." He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "Read between the lines, woman."

"I'll read between your lines." I smacked his ass and laughed as he whipped me back over his shoulder. We both fell into the cold snow with a thud. I was freezing….I take that back, I was an icicle. But I barely felt it. This was actually just…fun. I didn't care that I was freezing or probably risking hypothermia by being out here with him. I smiled.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"What?"

"That face. You look…happy." He cocked his eyebrow.

"I'm having a moment," I sighed. "Do you know how nice it is to have moments like these? I mean, I know it's something little like playing in the snow. I shouldn't feel this emotional about it, but I do. I love having these moments with you."

He leaned down and kissed my red, cold nose. "I love having these moments with you too." He collapsed down on my chest, almost crushing me into the snow. It wasn't uncomfortable. Despite the fact that snow was actually a form of ice, it had this very comforting feeling. Almost like a blanket. A big, cold, wet blanket.

He kissed my neck, swiping his warm, hot tongue across my skin so light that it made me shiver. He moved over to the other side and did the same just beneath my ear.

"Edward…" I moaned. I arched my body into his as my hand slinked out from my body. I grabbed a fistful of snow as I whimpered again beneath him.

"Yes?" He whispered.

"I just…I really want…" I mumbled.

"What do you want?"

"This." I slammed the snowball down on his head. He froze and sat straight up, allowing me some wiggle room to escape before he decided to retaliate.

I ran desperately towards the door as I heard him scrambling after me. I was thankful when I reached the door and scurried inside. I grinned and put my hands on my hips as I waited for him to stagger towards me, chunks of melting snow still stuck in his hair.

He opened the door and produced a large snowball from behind his back. Before I could react and run towards the stairs, I saw it hurtling towards my body like that big asteroid in Armageddon. I needed Bruce Willis to save my ass or I was going to be in for a world of hurt.

Seeing as Mr. Willis was unavailable at the moment, I did all I could and brought my arms up to shield myself. In doing so, I managed to leave my most vulnerable parts well…vulnerable.

I winced as it hit me in the milk jugs and imploded into a million snow pieces.

"Ouch!" I wrapped my arms around myself. "You got me in the boob, asshole."

"Brings a new life to "cold as a witch's tit huh?" He walked over with a semi-sad smile and pouted his bottom lip out. "I'm sorry." He reached out in the middle of the lobby and started rubbing my boob like it was a scraped knee. "Want me to kiss it?"

"Maybe later," I whispered.

He smiled and put his arm around my shoulder as we started up the stairs. As soon as we got into the apartment, he started tugging at his pajamas. He unzipped the front, pushed it off his shoulders and stepped out of them, as well as his boxers in one fluid motion. How he managed to survive Edward and Bella's Winter Wonderland with no extra protection for the jewels was beyond me. Especially because they hadn't seemed to be…affected by the cold weather.

His ass was beat red from the cold as he walked towards the bathroom.

"I'm going to take a hot shower," he said.

"Okay." I bit down on my lip and watched him the rest of the way. Despite the cold, I felt…hot. On fire. Burning so deep in my stomach that I was certain I was going to burst into flames.

Was now the time? Was it right? Nothing had ever felt so right so there was no way it could be wrong, right?

I trembled anxiously as I pulled the zipper of my own pajamas down and stepped out of them. Along the way to the bathroom I peeled off my underwear and bra until I stood completely naked in front of the shower curtain. Steam was billowing out of the sides and top, so much so that I couldn't even see my own reflection in the mirror. Maybe it was better that way. Then I couldn't see how ratty my hair was after being assaulted outside by the snow.

I took a deep breath and pulled the curtain slightly aside before stepping in. Edward was towards the front, his hands pressed against the tile of the shower as he leaned into the hot water. I didn't know how I deserved someone so beautiful. Or maybe the fact that we were both so beautifully broken made us perfect for each other. Like the cracked and jagged pieces of us fit meticulously together like some strange puzzle. We just fit.

I took another step towards him and lightly ran my fingers down his back as I leaned forward to press my lips against his flesh. He shivered and turned his head back over his shoulder. His hair was wetted down, dripping into his eyes and over his cheeks as he smiled warmly back at me.

"Hey," he mumbled.

"Hey." I wrapped my arms loosely around his waist as he turned around to face me. He grabbed my hips and gently spun me around so I was under the warmth of the water. His fingers danced over my forehead, pushing my hair out of my face.

As I pushed myself up on my toes to kiss him, my body melted into his, sliding freely against his slick skin.

"How is possible that I fall for you again every time I see your face?" He murmured against my lips. His hands traveled down my back, light as a feather before he reached my waist.

I nipped at his lips as my hands explored his chest, aching to feel every piece of him. His breath turned ragged as he pressed me up against the shower wall and dipped his tongue between my lips. I happily accepted him, tasting and enjoying every moment.

Any doubts that I had before or had ever had vanished in an instant. Sometimes people overanalyzed things and I started to realize that something as simple as loving someone didn't need any second guesses or rational logic. It was just love.

I gently rubbed the back of his neck, ever so slightly digging my nails through his hair as I pulled back and stared up at him. He knew what I was saying, what I was asking without a single word.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

I nodded. His shoulders heaved in a sigh as he reached around and turned off the water. He grabbed a towel for both of us and held my hand as we stepped out of the shower and started slowly towards his room.

His towel dropped to the floor and he turned back towards me with a smile. It wasn't one of his sly grins that he usually wore, but it was still enough to make me weak in the knees. He took a step towards me as a large drop of water splashed down onto my shoulder from my hair. I felt it travel across my chest and disappear into the towel between my breasts as he watched it. His finger was at the top of my towel, right where it knotted at my cleavage. He caressed my skin there for a moment before popping it open and allowing my towel to flitter to the floor.

He captured my lips in his as he led us back towards the bed. The back of my knees hit and I fell back, pulling him with me as I went.

"I've wanted to tell you something…" Edward said, ghosting his hand across my ribs. "I loved you from the moment I saw you standing in the hallway of that high school. And I loved you even more after I lost you."

A tear slipped down my cheek and I cursed myself for being so damn emotional. I couldn't help it. I didn't care if it was corny or cliché because we were. We the most fucked up cliché anyone would ever see, but I didn't give a shit. This was my guy. And I was his. I'd never been anyone else's.

"Do you want me to…I mean I have a..condom if you want…" He mumbled.

"I'm on the pill. My mother put me on it the moment I brought you home."

"Why?"

I could have said a million things like "Have you looked at your reflection?" but the only thing I could muster was something about a first serious boyfriend.

"And, Edward?" I said.

"Yeah?" He let out a huge breath.

"I love you too."

He leaned down and sucked my bottom lip between his teeth as his hands massaged my skin, working their way from my breasts down the middle of my stomach. When he reached my center, he slipped one finger inside me and then another, gently manipulating my body in the most beautiful way. I arched my back up, forcing my body to meet his as his fingers continued to work.

His lips traveled down my jaw and to my neck, lingering for a moment where my neck met my shoulder.

My body stilled as he pinched my delicate flesh between my legs, sending me into a complete tailspin. I cried out as my lips desperately searched for his. He obliged me, kissing me hard and rough as he slipped his fingers from inside me.

He gently pushed my knees apart and settled himself between them, breathing hard against my shoulder.

I felt his heat brush against my leg as it drew nearer to my center. I craved him, wanted him more than anything.

"Please," I whispered.

He moved, painstakingly slow, closer and closer until I felt him there. I didn't blame him for taking his time. This was a huge moment for us. A moment that was over five years in the making. He wanted it to be perfect.

"Just give me a sec," he mumbled. He sniffled and I felt a tear drop fall from his cheek to my shoulder.

"Edward?"

"I'm okay, I just…" He trailed off. His eyes danced back and forth before finally landing on mine. "I…"

"I know." I leaned up and kissed his forehead, trailing my way down to his lips. "I know."

He shook his head, composing himself as he reached down between us. He kissed the corner of my mouth as he pushed himself inside me.

"Mother fuck!" He screamed. We both froze. "Shit," he whispered. "I was hoping to say something more romantic than that." His eyes were wide with panic.

"It's okay." I ran my fingers through his hair. "You took the words right out of my mouth." I smiled slightly and kissed him to take his mind off of it. I wanted his mind on me. And his hands. And his lips.

He started to move inside me and mother fuck did it feel good. I hated that saying about feeling whole and complete. But there was no other way to say it. He was me and I was him and this thing between us couldn't have been more flawless.

My head fell back against the pillow as he pushed his hips against mine. Slow then fast. Gentle then rough. Almost like he was fighting himself, a battle between his heart and his primal instinct. I wanted both.

"Just feel it," I whispered.

He growled and pulled us upright, securing me to him as he did. His hand rested on my lower back, almost on my ass as I kissed him. I started moving myself up and down against him, around him as I ran my fingers through his hair. His tongue lapped the middle of my chest, making wet trails to the middle of my breasts where he nipped and sucked me.

The next thing I knew, his hands were on my ass, guiding me up and down as I rode him. My entire body was tingling, a live wire set to burst at any moment. Any experience I'd had before was gone, wiped clean from my head and my body. It was like I was new for him. My body only wanted to know him.

I felt my body fly over the edge, tumbling towards my own personal Garden of Eden. Pain. Pleasure. Ecstasy. I felt it all. I wanted it all. And as I clung to him while he shifted his hips against me again and again, I couldn't imagine a moment better than this. It didn't fucking exist because we hadn't created it yet.

With one last thrust, he buried himself deep inside me, holding my hips strong against his as he twitched against my flesh.

His head rested lightly on my shoulder, neither of us paying attention to the slick sweat coating both of our bodies. He placed a sloppy, wet kiss on my shoulder as his lips washed over my skin, almost too weak to kiss me properly.

As we both fell back onto the bed, completely exhausted and wrapped up in each other, I could hear the soft murmur of the New Year's Countdown sounding outside. The sound of "Auld Lang Syne" echoed down the streets, I couldn't help but smile.

"Happy New Year, sweetheart," Edward mumbled, kissing my forehead.

"Happy New Year."

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><p><strong>AN: If you can't tell, time is starting to go very quickly for Edward and Bella. The lease is practically halfway over and their time as roommates is dwindling down : (**

**Time Warp Contest will begin accepting and posting entries soon. I'll post the link on my profile! It's basically a historical one shot contest where the only limitation is that it has to be set before 2000! Please consider entering I think it's going to be a very fun contest.**

**My "Pretty in Pink"/Grope4Life Fundraiser has received some amazing news. Two other authors want to contribute! Please visit www . grope4life . blogspot . com for more details. As October approaches, we will be updating the list of pieces more and more. Right now there will definitely be one of Edward's trip to the store to get Bella her womanly needs and a future take from DMW. I also plan to do some more TR outtakes and possibly some new one shots. Hope you'll sign up for email updates!**

**Thank you guys for loving this story and its sometimes random and kooky features. This is basically the closest thing to what my head is like LOL I appreciate your investments and thoughts and recommendations among everything else. You guys are amazing : )**


	20. Show You Mine

The snow eventually melted, at least enough for me to be able to go to work. Which was what I was doing today. Up at the ass crack of dawn to go to work.

The way I saw it we were either going to be really busy at the bookstore because everyone's been cooped up in the blizzard or we're going to be really slow because nobody wanted to go out in the cold. Either way I was fucked because I had to go in anyway.

I cursed as my alarm when off for the second time and rolled over to find Edward. The bed was empty.

"Babe?" I sat up and stretched. I saw a soft light coming from the hallway, so I got up and made my way there. As I came around the corner, I saw him sitting at the dining room table with a mountain of books in front of him. He had his glasses on that he only wore when he was reading and a cup of coffee beside him. "Good morning," I said.

"Good morning," he mumbled, talking around the pen lodged between his teeth.

"What are you doing?" I asked, putting my arm around his shoulder.

"Starting the whole…med school application process. There's essays and books about essays and tests and papers and…just shit." He threw his pen down.

"Well, won't your experience with your dad down at the clinic help?"

"Yeah. It will help a lot. But that's more paperwork too."

"Just keep working at it, sweetheart." I leaned down and kissed his head before I shuffled into the bathroom to get ready for work.

I took a quick shower, dried my hair and bundled up for the walk there. I grabbed my purse and started towards the door, telling him I'd be home before dinner.

"You walking in this?" He asked, glancing out the window.

"Yeah. The snow isn't too bad anymore."

"It's cold outside." He got up and went to his room, returning quickly with his wallet. "Here's cab fare for there and back." He handed me some cash. "Don't want you freezing your cute butt off."

"I'm sure you'd warm my cute butt up if that was the case."

He grinned and started towards me. "I'd do a lot more than warm it up." He smacked my ass as I jogged towards the door. "Love you."

"I love you too," I said with a smile.

I took a cab because I knew Edward would be pissed if I didn't. It was a little slow going since everyone was back on the roads now. Apparently no one knew how to drive once winter hit. It was like the warmer weather washed away any memory of winter driving skills. Like they were born again Winter Weather Virgins. I liked to call them WWVs.

We finally rounded the corner to the bookshop and my heart sank. There was an ambulance with its lights on sitting directly in front of it.

"Eleazer," I gasped. I threw some money at the cabby and ran out.

There was a small crowd gathered by the entrance and the closer I got, the more I could hear.

"You crazy, son of a bitch," Eleazer yelled. "You're supposed to salt the sidewalks!"

"They were salted, old man!" Another voice said.

"I oughta sue you, you asshole!" Eleazer screamed.

I pushed my way through the people, trying to see what was going on. I finally broke through and saw him.

They were loading Eleazer onto the stretcher with a neck brace and something weird around his leg.

"Eleazer!" I yelled. I started towards him.

"Hi, Shortcake." He smiled at me and patted my arm.

"What the hell happened?" I asked.

"This idiot over here," he said, pointing to the scruffy looking guy standing by the door. "Didn't salt the damn sidewalks and I slipped on some ice."

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked one of the paramedics.

"Might have a broken leg. But other than that he looks fine. Are you family?" He asked.

"I work with him." I nodded to the bookstore.

"Sir," the paramedic said, turning towards Eleazer. "Is there any family…or someone we should call to come with you to the hospital?"

"No…I…." Eleazer shrugged. "My boy lives on the East Coast. There's no one."

"I'll go with him." I nodded.

"What about the bookshop?" Eleazer asked.

"It can wait until you're better." I smiled as they started toting him away. I knew that he was going to be okay, but I couldn't help but feel terrible. I was never really that close with my grandparents and he was the closest thing to a Grandpa that I had. Of course that was a little strange considering that he was my boss, but I saw him as family.

"I'll see you in court, fucker!" Eleazer screamed as they rolled him into the ambulance.

I furrowed my brow in confusion. He was always one to speak his mind, but I'd never heard so much profanity come out of that little old man's mouth before.

"We gave him some painkillers," one of the paramedics said. He smiled and nodded reassuringly as he held open the door for me.

I climbed in the back of ambulance and rode with Eleazer to the hospital. When we got there, they took him in for x-rays so I thought I'd call Edward and tell him what was going on.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey, did you get to work okay?"

"Um…yeah I got there okay. Don't freak out, but I'm at the hospital."

"What? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Eleazer slipped on some ice and they think he might have broken his leg."

"Okay, I'll come up there."

Before I could protest and tell him to stay home and work on his applications, he'd hung up.

He was there ten minutes later in the E.R. He was still wearing his pajamas and glasses.

"How is he?" He asked.

"Still waiting." I plopped down into a chair.

Edward mumbled something about food and headed towards the vending machines. He returned with two Twinkies and a bag of chips. Obviously.

We waited for three hours while they took x-rays of one leg.

"This is ridiculous," I sighed.

"Bella, x-rays can take awhile. Depending on how many people they had or how many different angles they had to get. Just be patient." He patted my leg and shoved a Twinkie in his face. A little bit of cream made it onto his chin and he made no move to wipe it off.

"Edward, you've got…" I pointed to my chin.

"I know. I'm not done yet." He ate the other Twinkie, wiped off the cream and stuck it in his mouth.

The doctors finally came out and confirm what the paramedic had told me. It was a broken leg.

"Now he's not going to be able to put any weight on this leg while it heals. Luckily it wasn't a nasty break so it won't take quite as long to heal, but it is important." The doctor looked through his charts. "I see he doesn't really have any next of kin around to…be of assistance…" He glanced up at us expectantly.

I couldn't expect Edward to be okay with bringing Eleazer to the apartment while his leg healed, but I couldn't leave him alone. Maybe I could look into hiring someone for him…

"He'll stay with us," Edward said. He nodded and started going over some instructions with the doctor as I stood in awe. I felt like I was staring at a fucking guardian angel in sweatpants and nerd glasses.

I stood with my jaw open while they finished up. Edward tucked the discharge papers to his chest and turned towards me.

"What?" He asked.

"Why did you do that?" I whispered.

"Do what?"

"Why did you offer our apartment?"

"Because we aren't leaving him to fend for himself." He brushed his hand down my arm. "And I know that he's important to you."

"But…."

"No buts." He put his finger gently over my lips. "We'll make it work. And it's not forever. We'll call his son and see if he can come out here to take care of him soon." He put his arms around me and pulled me close.

"Thank you," I mumbled into his chest.

We were at the hospital for most of the day and were finally able to take Eleazer home with us that night. Edward took him back to the apartment while I went to his place to get some of his things. I stopped to get some take out on the way home and finally made it back to the apartment.

I opened the door to the apartment and found our living room empty. The apartment looked fairly dark but I heard something down the hallway, so I started there. I grabbed my phone, ready to call Edward. I thought maybe something was wrong. Maybe they had to go back to the hospital.

I peeked in Edward's room and found a wheelchair and a food tray in there, along with some new blankets sitting on his bed. I set my bag in my bedroom before rounding to the kitchen and setting the food down. I was just about to hit send on my cell phone when the bathroom door flew open. I screamed. Eleazer screamed. Edward screamed.

"Goodness, honey, don't do that," Eleazer said. "I'm an old man and my heart can't take it."

"Sorry." I smiled apologetically and started dishing the food onto plates. Eleazer started hobbling, very slowly, down the hallway on his crutches with Edward trailing behind him.

I followed them into Edward's room and watched as Edward lifted Eleazer onto his bed and pulled the blanket over him. He reached over to the prescription bottles sitting on the nightstand and handed Eleazer a few pain pills.

I stood in the doorway, completely fascinated as I watched him work in silence. After Eleazer took the pills, Edward gently grabbed his wrist and kept his eye on the clock as he took his pulse. He took the food tray and set it on his lap.

"Heart rate is a little high," Edward said.

"Can you blame it?" Eleazer nodded in my direction. "This one over here was trying to kill me."

"Well just try to relax a little, huh?" Edward smiled and started towards me.

"Where are you going to sleep?" I asked quietly.

"In your bed." He kissed my cheek and left the room.

Edward and I ate dinner out in the dining room as Eleazer lay in bed and watched his television programs. We were all beat by the time we were finished, so I cleaned up as Edward tended to Eleazer again.

"Now remember. Don't be getting up by yourself," Edward said. I peeked around the corner and saw him hand Eleazer a walkie-talkie. "I'll be….out on the couch if you need to go to the bathroom or are in any pain, okay?"

I cocked my eyebrow and waved goodnight to Eleazer as Edward walked out and closed the door.

"On the couch?" I murmured.

"He told me I wasn't allowed to sleep with you." Edward smirked.

"Why not?"

"Because we're not married and I'm a decent guy and it wouldn't be proper." He laughed under his breath and started towards my room.

"And you're going to just…lie to him?"

"He's not going to know. And besides, I plan on doing…less than proper things to you regardless of if it's in your bed or not." He disappeared inside.

My eyes fluttered, fighting to stay open. Partially from exhaustion and partially from the sexual seduction I'd just experienced. I cleared my throat and glanced at Eleazer's door, almost like he knew before skittering in after Edward.

"Where are you?" I whispered into the dark.

"Here." He was stepped right behind me and put his arms around my waist. He leaned in and brushed his lips lightly over my neck.

"You know," I said, while my thoughts were still coherent. "I just wanted you to know that you're…a really wonderful person. The way you're….playing doctor with Eleazer is amazing and I'm…" I trailed off as his tongue washed across my collarbone. "Wait what was I saying?"

"Something about playing doctor?" He nipped at my ear and led us towards what I thought was the bed. He turned me around a moment before we both fell back, landing on the soft comforter with a gentle thud.

"Do I get to be the patient?" I whimpered.

"Where does it hurt?" He asked.

"Here." I pointed to my boob.

He kissed my neck and worked his way down to my chest. His fingers slipped underneath the bottom of my shirt and pulled it up to my neck. I shivered as he slithered along the cup of my bra, tinkering at the top. He finally pulled it down and leaned down to take me into his mouth, between his teeth.

"Holy Sh…!" I gasped, but his hand flew up to cover my mouth. He should know from the Dressing Room Incident that I wasn't good at being quiet. Now we were testing it again with a fragile old man in the next room.

He rolled my flesh between his lips, sucking it off with a loud pop. "Where else?"

When I didn't answer he pointed down to my stomach. "Here?"

I nodded.

He slinked down my body, making sure to push his hard on against me as much as possible.

His lips traveled down the center of my stomach, lingering just below my belly button to nip at my skin.

He pushed himself up with his arms and sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he reached lower. "Here?" He planted a firm hand on the crotch of my pants.

"Most definitely."

He cocked his head to the side as he unzipped my pants. I lifted my ass off the bed as he pulled them and my underwear down in one fluid motion.

He scooted further down the bed, settling between my knees and on the road to Paradise. He hooked his arms around my legs and gripped tightly, pulling them farther apart.

He kept his eyes on me, glinting only slightly in the darkness, as he leaned forward and nuzzled my flesh. Before I could scream out, I covered my mouth with my own hand and found myself breathing hard through my nose. I wanted to keep it together. And I wanted to let it go. Hard.

His tongue was flat against me, nipping, sucking, lapping at me like I was his last meal.

"Baby," I moaned. He growled and kissed me again, dipping his tongue in all the right places as his hand headed north.

"Fuck," I whispered, arching my back off the bed. My legs desperately wanted to clench around him, to hold him there to continue his work, but he wouldn't let them. He held them firmly apart, spreading me out for him.

My stomach was starting to flutter, threatening to spring like a tightly wound coil. Just…a….little…. "Yeah…" I moaned. "I'm gonna…"

"Fogey to YoungBlood!" Eleazer's voice blared over the walkie-talkie. "I think I've gotta poop again!"

"…vomit," I said. My heart sank and my stomach, as well as other parts, stopped fluttering.

"Sorry, babe." Edward kissed me once more before crawling up over my body and grabbing the walkie. "Copy." He turned to me. "Just give me a minute." He turned on the lamp beside the bed and started towards the door.

"Edward?" I called, propping myself up on my elbows.

"Yeah?"

I nodded down to his pants, where his dick was standing at attention.

"Down!" He lightly tapped the tip.

"Youngblood!" Eleazer said again. "I think I've got a turtle head poking out!"

Edward opened the door and started fiddling with his pants as he walked outside. He closed the door behind him, leaving me pantsless on the bed.

I heard some shuffling outside and the fan in the bathroom turn on.

I tried to wait for him because I was going to force him to finish the job. I counted the tiles on the ceiling, twiddled my thumbs and literally watched the minutes tick by on the clock.

My whole body was tingling in anticipation and frustration. I could wait. I could wait….I couldn't wait.

I bit down on my lip as I cautiously moved my hand south over my stomach. I took a deep breath and told myself to follow the Bellabrick Road to the Emerald City. I wasn't really one to…take matters into my own hands, but this was an emergency. There was nothing worse than being left hanging like this. It was like running towards a big, delicious piece of cake and running smack dab into the window between you and your happy place. Face. Fucking. Plant.

I closed my eyes as I brushed my hand over myself. I started stroking slowly, up, down, all around trying to find it again.

I was finally starting to get into it again, pushing myself to finish before Edward came back. I was so absorbed that I didn't hear the toilet flush. I didn't hear Edward helping Eleazer back to his room. I didn't hear the bedroom door open.

"Holy Shit," Edward growled.

I was too stunned to move. I was caught red handed and there was no denying it. I closed my eyes tight and eventually pulled my hand back up under my chin. "Oh God," I whispered. My legs automatically shut, going into lockdown from the humiliation. "I'm gonna go die now." I pulled the blanket completely over my body and cringed.

Edward eventually crawled into bed with me and fought his way under the covers.

"Don't look at me, I'm mortified," I said, covering my face.

"Bella," he breathed. "Look at me."

I squinted, barely able to see him.

"I want you to promise me never to do that again…" My stomach fluttered. "Without me present and attentively watching," he said.

I wanted to let out a huge sigh of relief but I was still embarrassed. My embarrassment turned to confusion as he reached for the waistband of his pajamas, pushed them down and freed his dick.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"You showed me yours." He smirked and wrapped his fingers around it. "I'll show you mine."

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><p><strong>AN: I love show and...show! : )**

**The Time Warp One Shot contest starts accepting entries tomorrow! The link for the contest is on my profile.**

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	21. Cake, Duh

**Don't own Twilight, wish RPattz would own me. Thanks ImHereToReview for your input as always!**

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><p>Five more hours. Eleazer's son was going to be here in five more hours to pick him up. I loved this man like he was my family, but he could not be here anymore. I was going insane.<p>

Edward and I had not had sex since he got here a week ago. I felt like my lady bits were throwing a fit because they were in danger of spontaneous combustion from being ignored. They say two year olds have tantrums, wait until you meet a sexually frustrated vagina.

"Edward, can you put that pillow there under my leg?" Eleazer said. Edward carried his breakfast out into the living room, where Eleazer was stationed during the day. Apparently people need sunshine. Vitamin D and all.

I was in the bathroom getting ready to go into the bookstore for a little bit. We were still undecided on when we were going to actually open back up, but I knew we had a lot of inventory to do so I figured I'd go in before I met Alice for cake tasting.

I bit down on my lip and peeked out into the hallway. I heard Edward set down his breakfast try and a few moments later, soft snoring echoed down the hall. He's asleep. I grinned.

I closed the bathroom door and shimmied out of my underwear before pulling myself up on the counter. I inched the door open and called out.

"Edward? Can you help me with something for a minute?"

I closed the door and waited. He finally knocked and stepped inside.

"What's up?" He asked.  
>"Hopefully you," I smirked and reached for his hand. I pulled it along my thigh and underneath the long t-shirt I was wearing. I saw him stiffen when he realized I wasn't wearing any underwear.<p>

"Bella, we can't do this now." He cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses.

I reached up and pulled them off his face. "Have I told you that I really like these on you? They look really sexy." I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him close.

"Bella..." he said again.

"Fine," I sighed. "Fine." I crossed my arms in front of me. "You know this doesn't make any sense? I greet you Beaver-barrier free and you still don't want me."

"You think I don't want you?" He cocked his eyebrow and reached for my hand. He placed it over his crotch and I gasped, feeling his desire hard beneath my fingertips.

"Oh," I whispered.

"Sweetheart, do you know how bad I would feel if I was in here with you and he tried to get up and fell again or something?"

"You're right." I bit my lip. "Why do you have to play good Doctor all the time?"

"I'm not a doctor yet." He smiled and kissed my nose before heading back out into the living room.

"But you will be," I said.

I finished up in the bathroom and finally headed to the bookshop. Ten minutes after I got there, the delivery guy knocked on the door and started unloading all of our shipments.

"How's that old man doing?" He asked.

"He's okay." I signed for the boxes.

"I'm surprised everyday that I come in here and he's behind that counter. He's getting too old to run this place, don't you think?"

"He'd never give it up," I said, laughing. "Not unless he found someone he trusted to take it over."

The man smiled politely and left.

I loaded a couple of the heavy boxes onto the small trolley that we had and started towards the back of the shop. There was a doorway labeled for employees only. I slipped inside and started down the endless rows of books. They were all arranged in alphabetical order, first by author then by title. I glanced down at the boxes I was toting and noticed they were Stephen King so I headed to the K's and reached for my box cutter.

I tended to lose track of time when I was back there, surround by all the books. I'd made sure to set an alarm so I wouldn't be late for my appointment with Alice.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been back there, but I froze when I thought I heard the bell from the front door opening. I could have sworn the "Closed" sign was still up. Maybe they'd seen me come in and assumed. Did I forget to lock the door?

"Hello?" I called.

No answer.

I shivered. This was like the start of a really bad horror movie. Good thing I wasn't the blonde with the big tits or I'd be the first one to die.

I started to stock the books again, but I heard another noise from somewhere in the back. Almost like footsteps.

"Hello?" I called again. "We're closed."

I slowly walked to the end of the aisle and peeked around the corner. Nothing.

I was genuinely starting to get a little freaked out, so I pulled out my phone and thought maybe I could at least sit on the phone with Edward while I finished up here.

I dialed his number, put my phone on speaker and set it down on one of the stacks. As I reached for another book from the box, the Star Wars theme song rang out from behind me and I screamed.

"I come in peace!" Edward said.

I spun around, clutching at my chest to make sure I could still feel a heartbeat.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"Sorry. I wanted to surprise you. Eleazer's son got an earlier flight so he just picked him up." He shrugged and licked his lips.

"Oh." I leaned back against the stacks. "So…" I bit down on my lip. "Can we have sex now?"

"Why the hell do you think I rushed over here so quick?" He smirked and stepped forward, trapping me between him and the books.

"Here?" I looked around. "We could at least go back to the apartment."

"I can't wait that long." He pressed his hips into mine. "I want you now." He ran his hands along my shoulders and down my arms before resting eventually on my hips. "Right now."

I nodded and frantically started fumbling with my jeans, trying to get them off as quick as I could. He did the same.

Within moments, we were both pantsless and he was pounding me against the stacks. We were like fucking rabbits. Literally.

I mean books rattling, stacks shaking, dust flying fucking. I went from feeling like I was in a horror movie to a porno. And I liked it.

I grabbed onto the shelf, trying to steady myself against him.

"Shit, baby," he hissed, reaching around the palm my not so bare breasts. We'd been in such a hurry that neither of us had bothered to take anything else off. We just needed access to the essentials, so to speak. And my essentials were moments away from feeling like a million bucks.

"Harder," I breathed. I closed my eyes and felt my fingers tighten against the shelf. Edward screamed out, raw and feral, as he pushed inside me one, two three more times before finding his own release.

I moaned as I clenched around him and smiled as his dick twitched inside me. He leaned down and bit my neck, just hard enough to barely leave a mark, before kissing it away and whispering how much he loved me.

"Holy shit, where did that come from?" I asked, out of breath.

"You thought you were sexually frustrated? I'm pretty sure I sprained my wrist the last couple of weeks." He reached down to grab his jeans and stepped into them.

"Maybe that should happen more often," I sighed. I'd never be able to do inventory without blushing again. It was like I could play out my own personal fantasy every time I had to come back here. "Just be careful you don't jizz on Stephen King."

His face went blank. "Please," he said. "Don't ever say that again."

As I pulled my jeans back on, my alarm starting sounding in my back pocket. I reached in and turned it off.

"I have to go meet Alice," I said.

"What's on the wedding to do list today?" He asked.

"Cake tasting."

"I'm offended." He placed his hand on his chest. "Why wasn't I invited to this?"

"Do you want to be invited to this?" I cocked my eyebrow.

"There's…food."

"Cake doesn't come in chip flavor, honey."

"No, but it comes in cake flavor."

"Okay." I shrugged. "Let's go then, we can't be late."

I grabbed his hand and led him back out front. I locked up the shop and we headed towards the bakery to meet Alice.

She was already looking frazzled, watching the clock with persistence as we walked in.

"I thought I was going to have to call you," she said. "What's boyfriend doing here?"

"It's cake….duh," he said.

"Fine." She waved us off and went to the counter to tell them we were ready to begin.

We were led back into a small room with a large table filled with small pieces of several different types of cakes. The whole room smelled like frosting. Edward was practically salivating.

We tried lemon, red velvet, chocolate, white and a marble cake. Edward was the last to taste because he ended up just eating whatever was left on the plate.

"Okay," Alice said. "Thoughts?"

"Red velvet," I said, casting my vote.

"Red velvet," Alice said in agreement. We both looked down at Edward. There were crumbs of every color around his mouth as he shoved the last piece of cake into his mouth. "Can I vote for all of them?" He mumbled, his mouth full.

"How are you supposed to be a doctor if you're going to end up obese with diabetes?" I asked.

"Do as I say, not as I do?" He shrugged.

Alice decided on the red velvet cake and started elaborating on what she wanted it to look like and the colors for the wedding. Edward spent his time licking the frosting off the plate. I watched in half amusement, half horror.

"I gotta go," he finally said. He slid the plates forward and stood up. "I've got a few application deadlines to get to." He leaned down and kissed me, said goodbye to Alice, and left.

I sat with Alice for the rest of the appointment before heading home. She reminded me of our dress fittings next week, which I was excited for because I hadn't seen her dress yet. She custom ordered it from some designer in France and I was sure it was taking up more than half of the wedding budget.

When I got home, Edward was settled at his perch at the dining room table with all of his stuff out. He glanced up and smiled as I entered, but went back to his work. I didn't want to bother him. I knew he was stressed and had a lot of work to do to get all of his applications in on time. He was late as it was so he didn't want to push his luck any further.

I shrugged out of my jacket and ambled into my room, daydreaming about the fantastic bath that I was about to take. I cocked my head to the side when I entered my room and saw it sitting on my bed. The Stephen King Anthology and a box of condoms. There was a small note beside it, written in his handwriting.

"No jizz zone," I mumbled, reading his message. I shook my head as I heard Edward giggle to himself out in the dining room.

"Very funny, Clown."

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry about the wait for this chapter, it took a little longer than I was expecting to actually be able to sit down and work on it. Updates may be on time and may not be for the next few weeks. I'm frantically working on my Pretty in Pink Breast Cancer Fundraiser so I'm incredibly busy with that right now. FYI there will be 2 TR outtakes that will be in that compilation, as well as a DMW futuretake and a new one shot that is currently over 17 pages and not done yet. So I hope you'll donate!**

**Thanks again for everything, you guys are always so supportive and I appreciate it : )**


	22. Apologies

**This chapter is unbeta'd/unpreread or whatever you wanna call it. I tried to catch them, but any mistakes belong to me.**

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><p>In the month after Eleazer had left the apartment, Edward and I became incredibly busy. Eleazer was working less. I was working more. Edward was drowning in the med school application process.<p>

We were like an old married couple. I'd come home to find him passed out in the chair, surrounded by books and papers. I'd poke him a little to wake him up and tell him to go to bed. He'd complain that he hadn't watched his programs yet and I'd say that the only thing he was watching was the back of his eyelids. I'd microwave us a couple of Hungry Man dinners, we'd watch Jeopardy and be in bed by nine o'clock. I started to think Eleazer had been too much of an influence on our lifestyle. We saw how the other half lived. TV Dinners, backaches, those amazing moccasin slippers that we found on sale at Target. Now we were stuck in old people land.

"Honey, have you seen my crossword book?" Edward peeked his head out of the bathroom.

"It's on your nightstand," I mumbled, not looking up from my new book.

Eleazer had given me quite a bit more responsibility at the bookshop. I even got to pick some of the books we ordered, planned author spotlights and even got the bookshop a brand new website.

Alice had picked out an amazing bridesmaid dress for me to wear at the wedding. She'd decided to have a small wedding party…a really small wedding party. As in Edward and I. That was it. We were barreling towards the wedding date like a fucking runaway truck and I barely had time to think. Good thing she was so meticulously organized.

"I got a call from a few colleges out East today." Edward plopped down on my bed.

"Yeah?"

"They want me to go out there for some interviews. Apparently since I applied so late in the application process, it's really important that I go."

"Well go."

"I don't want to go without you." He turned towards me and pouted out his lower lip.

"I can't leave the bookshop right now, I'm sorry." I wanted nothing more than to go on a vacation with him, but it was impossible right now. Eleazer depended on me too much.

"And if I get in? What then?" He cocked his eyebrow.

"Then we'll have to re-evaluate." Was that even an option? A long distance relationship? I didn't think I could stand to be that far away from him. We'd already missed out on too much.

He sighed and started his next crossword puzzle.

Edward left for the East Coast the next week, right before Valentine's Day. Alice said I should have grabbed him by the balls and made him stay, that a boyfriend wasn't allowed to leave his girlfriend alone on Valentine's Day. I didn't really give a shit. I wasn't that girl.

We finalized the menu for the wedding while he was gone, much to his dismay. And the whole time he was away I missed him. The moment he stepped into the airport, I knew the long distance thing would never work.

The night before Edward was supposed to come back, Eleazer invited me over for dinner. Which really meant he ordered take out and put it on his plates so it looked like he made it.

"Slaved all day," he mumbled with a smile. He set his cane against the wall and sat down.

We made small talk throughout dinner, but I could tell that something was on his mind.

"What's going on?" I asked tentatively.

"Well…I'm retiring, Bella."

I dropped my fork. He was closing the bookshop. I was going to be unemployed. I'd have to sit at home all day and watch Edward veg out on his damn beanbag. I was going to go crazy.

"I'd like to…give you the bookshop." He smiled.

"Wait, what?" I cocked my head to the side.

"I'm giving you the bookshop."

"Eleazer…this isn't like giving someone a new sweater. This is like…your life. That bookshop is your life's work." I shook my head.

"Which is why I wouldn't trust anyone but you with it."

"But…" I started.

"No buts. It's yours. As long as you'll accept."

I couldn't say no. I just couldn't. Not to him.

"Of course I do." I smiled. "I don't think I could ever thank you."

"You don't have to. I just want you both to be taken care of." He reached over and grabbed my hand.

The rest of dinner was wonderful. We didn't really talk any more about the bookshop, just mostly chatted about Edward and his medical school prospects.

I left just after it got dark since I knew he probably wanted to go to bed. When I got home I walked into the dark apartment, not even bothering to flip the lights on. I walked blindly into the kitchen and threw my leftovers in the fridge. As soon as I closed the door, I smelled Edward's cologne, suddenly behind me.

"You're home early," I said.

"I caught an earlier flight back. Where were you?" He asked, pressing his body gently against mine. I leaned forward and rested my palms on the counter.

"Having dinner with a friend…" I said.

He wrapped his arms around me and I melted into him. My body missed him. I missed him. Now that he was here, I just wanted to feel him against me. Then I'd know it wasn't a dream.

"Which friend?" I called Alice. He nipped at my ear as his hands roamed over my body, brushing over my stomach and up to my breasts.

"A man," I teased. He growled. "Older….wiser….more wrinkly."

"Eleazer," he sighed.

His hand slipped south, undid my pants and slid inside. I moaned and fell forward, resting my head on the counter as I pushed my hips back to make it easier on him.

He pushed his fingers inside me, massaging me from the inside out.

"I missed you," he whispered, resting his other hand on my back, keeping me down.

I whimpered and clenched my legs tightly together, holding his fingers inside me. They tickled as they wiggled inside me, hitting all the right stops along the way.

"Fuck, baby…" I breathed. I shuddered as a lazy smile spread across my lips. Yeah. I was glad he was home.

I woke up the next morning on his bare chest and feeling amazing. The apartment didn't feel like home without him. It felt cold, empty. It was one of the first times we'd been apart since he moved in. I never knew it then, thinking I would hate living with him. I hated living without him.

I lay in bed until my alarm went off.

"Are you really working today?" Edward groaned. "I thought you were closing the shop today to celebrate my return."

"I did, but I scheduled a doctor's appointment because I was due for one and I wasn't expecting you until later tonight." I smiled and kissed him.

"What doctor? Are you okay?" He sat up on his elbows as I hopped out of bed.

"I'm fine. It's just my yearly exam with my gynecologist."

"Oh." He lay back down and sighed. "Well tell her I said hello and…thanks for keeping one of my favorite parts of you healthy."

"I'll tell him." I went to brush my teeth. Edward scrambled out of bed and ran after me.

"He?"

"Yeah? He." My brow furrowed.

"Your gyno is a guy!" He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah. So…"

"So there's a guy sticking his fingers up in your business?"

"If I remember correctly, last night I had a guy sticking his fingers up in my business." I smirked.

"Well can't you just tell him I checked it out and everything's fine." He shrugged.

"Edward," I scolded with a laugh. "Why are you freaking out about this?" I spit my toothpaste out. "You're going to be a doctor. You're going to see women's boobs. I don't care."

"This is different."

"How is it different?" He didn't answer so I shook my head and brushed past him. "Gotta go. I'll be back soon."

He pulled on a jacket and hat and quickly followed me out of the apartment.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Coming with you. I'd be more comfortable if I was there."

"Really? You'd be more comfortable?" I cocked my eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"Okay." I sighed and took his hand as we hailed a cab.

Edward was silent as we walked into the waiting room. I signed in and sat down beside him. He was the only thing with a dick in the entire room. Everyone looked at us weird. It was making this whole experience a lot more uncomfortable than it already would have been. It wasn't like I was eager to get this done, but it wasn't excruciating and it was over quick. Now everything was going to be amplified by the awkwardness of Edward being here.

They finally called me and everyone watched as we walked through the door. The nurse glanced towards Edward and down at the chart that probably said what I was here for. It would be a little bit more understandable if I were here for some type of prenatal thing. But I wasn't. Definitely not.

She took us to a room and told me to get undressed and get in a gown. I did as she said as soon as she left. Edward took my clothes and held them in a pile on his lap as I got up onto the table. I glared down at the stirrups. I hated that they were called that. I mean who the hell came up with the cruel joke? This was no pony ride. This was a "let's see how big of a crazy looking instrument I can stick in your vagina" ride.

There was a knock on the door and the doctor stepped inside. Edward glared at him protectively. The doctor stared back, but mostly in confusion.

"Hello, Bella." He smiled at me.

"Hi Dr. Warner."

"And you are?" He turned to Edward.

"I'm Edward. Bella's boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you, Edward." He nodded and sat down in his chair as he began looking over my chart. "Bella, when was your last menstrual cycle?"

"Two weeks ago, Monday."

"And…" He glanced at Edward. "Are you sexually active?"

"Yes."

Edward's cheeks blushed bright red. I had no problem discussing this with my doctor. And I knew deep down Edward knew the procedure of things from his dad and from preparing for med school. But I can imagine it was a little different when you're sitting in front of the doctor and your girlfriend is talking about your sex life.

"And you're still on the birth control?" He asked.

"Yep."

"Having any issues with that?"

"Nope. It's going great."

"Alright. Just go ahead and lay back and we'll do the breast exam."

I laid back and took a deep breath. I heard Edward shift in the chair.

The doctor came over and opened the front of my gown. I glanced over and saw Edward watching intently with his eyes large as the doctor reached for my chest. Edward's fingers closed in on themselves, clenching into a fist as the exam continued.

When the breast exam was finished, the doctor told me to put my feet up in the stirrups. I scooted by butt down and spread my legs apart. The doctor snapped on some gloves and put some lube on the speculum and slowly slid it inside me. It wasn't terribly painful, just a little uncomfortable. I closed my eyes as he slowly opened it.

I turned my head to watch Edward again as the doctor chattered on about nothing. I told him silently to look at me, to stop being such a fucking idiot. But he wouldn't. He was completely entranced by what the doctor was doing and not in a good way. Kind of like he was ready to kick his ass if he made one wrong move. His nose scrunched up as he pulled his legs up on the seat.

I finally looked up at the ceiling and told myself to relax.

It was over just as quickly as it had started. The doctor said everything looked fine and they'd call if anything abnormal came back on my test results. He smiled at Edward and left the room so I could get dressed.

Edward handed me my clothes and I changed back before we headed out to check out. I paid my bill, made my next appointment and then told Edward he was taking me out for lunch.

As soon as we walked out of the office, I turned to him and crossed my arms. "That was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever experienced, Edward! What did we learn today?"

"That I'm never going to another gynecologist appointment with you again," he said like a wounded puppy. He sucked his lower lip into his mouth. "And I'm really glad I don't have a vagina."

"Well good! Because we are both." I motioned between my face and my lower half. "Are very mad at you." I turned around and stormed off. I gave Edward the silent treatment during lunch and then hid in my room when we got home. I was halfway through my new issue of People magazine when a soft knock sounded at my door. I sighed and got up.

When I opened the door, Edward was standing on his knees, right at eye level with my hips.

"Dear Bella's Vagina," he sighed. "I'm sorry that I made you feel awkward today at the doctor's office. I'm sure that was a really uncomfortable and stressful time for you and I'm sorry that I made it worse. And I think you're beautiful." He slowly stood up to meet me eye level. "And Bella I'm sorry I went with you to your doctor's appointment. I get anxious when it comes to you and I won't apologize for that. Because I love you. But I'm sorry I made you mad. If it makes you feel any better, I'm completely scarred for life and have decided I will definitely not be going into anything regarding vaginas or reproductive health." He sighed again and pouted out his lower lip. "So thanks for helping me with that career decision." He twiddled his thumbs. "And I think that's it."

"You promise?" I couldn't be mad at him anymore. He was like that damn cat from Shrek with his big eyes and pouty smile. It was impossible.

"I promise."

"Okay good." I tugged on his shirt and wrapped my arms around him. "Now get in here. I need help on this damn crossword puzzle."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Pretty in Pink Fundraiser: Compilations have been sent out! There's still time to donate. Check out the link on my profile for more info. You can get 2 outtakes from this story, as well as 2 other stories from me and stories from a few other authors! **

**I started posting another mini fic called The Wharf. Only the prologue is up now, but as soon as the story is finished I'll be posting it in succession rather quickly. I became rather fond of that with DMW. **

**Thanks for all of your support and for being amazing. My life has been incredibly crazy lately so I appreciate your patience so much with my random update schedule : )**


	23. The Force Is Strong With This One

**I don't own Twilight. Thanks ImHereToReview for being kick ass. Go read her stories!**

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><p>It wasn't that I didn't tell him on purpose about the bookshop. Between the surprise tryst in the kitchen and my ladyland appointment, it just kind of slipped my mind. As soon as it slipped back in, I felt the panic take hold.<p>

I started to rationalize everything and really thought about what this meant for us. All of his potential schools were on the East Coast. This bookshop would tie me to the West Coast. It was unavoidable…unless someone gave in.

Once I actually had the time to panic about it, I avoided telling him as long as possible. Which was dinnertime. I made his favorite food and hoped that he had a better solution for me than the one I'd come up with. I didn't want to give up the bookshop. And I didn't want him to give up med school. So here we were. Stuck between a fucking rock and a hard place.

"So…I have some…news." I gulped hard

"So do I…" He plopped a chip in his mouth.

"Okay, you go first."

"No can do. You brought it up." He shook his head.

"Okay." I glanced down at the dining room table. I held my breath, squeezed my eyes tight and blurted it out in one breath. "Eleazergavemethebookstore." I gasped and hesitantly looked up at him. His brow furrowed and then he smiled.

"That's fantastic, sweetheart. I know how much that means to you."

"You aren't upset?" I asked.

"Why the hell would I be upset? That's like…your dream."

"Okay." I cocked my eyebrow. "What's your news?"

He sighed and ate another chip. "It's not important."

"It is important." I started to get anxious. "What is it?"

"I uh…met the president of the university. In Boston. He just kinda said I'd been all but officially accepted." He squinted up at me. "With a scholarship."

"Shut up!" I screamed. "Edward!" I couldn't hide the grin on my face even though it was confirming my worst fears. If we both did this, we'd be separated.

"But I'm not going," he mumbled.

"Why not?"

"Because you won't be there now." He tossed his chip bag towards the center of the table.

"Don't you dare…" I pointed my finger. "Don't you dare give that up!"

"You want to be apart?"

"No." I felt the tears welling in my eyes. This was a conundrum. "Maybe….maybe I don't have to take the bookstore. I mean I'm sure he can find someone else to do it."

"No, Bella." He shook his head and sat back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What? You can give up your dream, but I can't give up mine?" I yelled. "How is that fair?" He was silent. "I mean why do you get to just throw away everything that you've worked for! I can make sacrifices for us too, Edward!"

"You're not giving up the bookshop."

"You don't get to tell me what to do." I stood up and pushed away from the table. "And fuck you!"

I ran into my room, holding back tears the whole time. I wasn't mad at him. I told myself that over and over again. I wasn't mad at him. I was mad at the situation.

I sat in my room for awhile, fuming over everything. I didn't hear a fucking peep from Mr. Everything Is Okay. I finally decided to venture out because I had to talk to Eleazer. I knew that Edward told me no. But it wasn't really a word I dealt with very well. Especially when it was getting in the way of me being with my boyfriend.

Edward was sitting on the couch highlighting through a book that looked really important. I cleared my throat and glanced his way before throwing my head back confidently. It hit the corner of the wall with a loud thud.

"Damnit!" I yelled, clutching the back of my head. Edward cocked his eyebrow at me. "I'm fine!" I glared at him and left the apartment.

I decided to walk to Eleazer's place since I needed to blow off some steam and the weather was as frigidly cold anymore. I muttered to myself the whole way, hardly even noticing the world around me.

"Excuse me?" Someone asked.

I sighed and looked up. "What?" I snapped.

"Are you lost?" It was an annoying middle aged woman who had that look on her face. The one where she forces her assistance on people. Almost like the people at the store who approach you even though you're trying to avoid them. They're unavoidable. I'd just like to shop in peace, Nancy, but thank you for asking.

"No…." I looked around to see if anyone else was paying attention to us. "Wait, what?"

"Are you lost? Do you need to go to the hospital?" She started talking to me like I was a five year old child. I had no idea what was going on. "Or a shelter? I could take you to a shelter."

"I'm not…homeless lady. Or sick." I took a step back and looked down. Okay, maybe I was wearing Edward's raggedy sweatpants and one of my dad's old jackets. And maybe I was muttering to myself and walking with my head down. So what?

"Well at least let me give you a few dollars to get something to eat, hmmm?" She reached into her wallet and I shrugged. I wasn't going to refuse free money.

"Thank you." I nodded and headed to the closest Burger King. I left ten minutes later with a cheeseburger and a Hershey Pie.

I finally made it to Eleazer's and he greeted me with open arms and a napkin.

"You've got chocolate all over your face, sweetheart. Did anything make it into your mouth?" He said.

"Judging by the massive stomachache I have right now, yes." I held my stomach and shuffled inside.

I plopped down in his corner chair and curled up into a ball.

"Edward and I got into a fight…" I said. I felt like I was talking to my grandpa. It was kind of nice.

"Oh?" Eleazer said from the kitchen. He hobbled out with a tea pot and a couple of mugs. "What about?"

"He's going to med school out East." I snuggled into a pillow. "Eleazer, I can't take the bookstore."

"Okay." He smiled.

"Okay?" I sat up. "Who else are you going to get to run it?"

He shrugged. "I'm sure I'll find someone."

"There is no one." I didn't understand why I was arguing with him. Maybe he'd adopted Edward's attitude and just assumed everything would work out. Apparently I had to be the Debbie Downer of today.

"So what's this about you and Edward?" He asked, pouring me a cup of tea.

I told him all about our fight and how I didn't think we could be separated from each other. Actually I couldn't be separated from him. I had no idea if he felt that anxiety as much as I did, but I didn't know if I could survive it.

"Stop being so fucking dramatic, shortcake. A lot of couples go through some tough times." He nodded. "My wife and I, God rest her soul, were apart for a year and a half during the war."

I leaned forward and smiled.. This was the kind of thing I liked. The old, romantic war time stories. It felt like a completely different world back then. It kind of made me sad that epic romances like that didn't seem to exist anymore.

"Tell me about her," I said.

"Oh she was beautiful." He laughed. "We lived in the same town our whole lives and never really talked to each other. I was home for a visit during a break from training, visiting my fiancée at the time. And I saw Betty working at the diner after my girl and I got into a fight. That was all and that was it. I never looked at another girl."

"You must have been very handsome," I teased.

"Oh I was. I was a good lookin' fella. Golly." He laughed again. "I asked her to marry me two weeks later, the day before I shipped out. We were engaged the whole time I was gone and got married a week after I returned at City Hall. We'd been apart more than we'd been together, but never more in love. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder."

"Do you believe that's true for everyone?" I whispered.

"No." He shrugged. "Some people can't survive a long distance relationship. But you never know until you try. Never be afraid of trying or failure, Bella. It's what makes us human."

I hid out at Eleazer's until he fell asleep on the couch. On my way back, I tried to convince myself to listen to him. I wanted to tell myself that it was okay for Edward to go to med school and me to run the bookstore. But I couldn't. And it wasn't that I didn't trust him or myself or thought that our relationship wasn't strong enough to last. The thought of not being in the same city as him for more than a week made me feel like I was literally going to vomit.

When I got back, the apartment was silent and dark except for the faintest voices coming from Edward's room.

I walked down the hallway and cracked his door open. He was watching TV, lying on his bed with his arm behind his head.

He glanced at me as I stepped inside and crept over to his bed. He didn't flinch when I crawled onto the bed with him and curled up on his chest.

"Which one is this?" I asked.

"The Empire Strikes Back," he mumbled.

We watched for awhile in silence until I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Hypocrite, I am," I said, imitating my best Yoda speak. "Sorry, I am."

"Sorry, I am." He kissed the top of my head.

I turned around and placed my chin on his chest. "I want you to be happy."

"It would make me happy to see you happy, Bella. And honestly, being apart would suck. It would be hard. But we can do it. We broke the fuck up and still found our way back to each other. You think a couple thousand miles is going to make a difference?"

I smiled. "The force is strong with this one…"

"Promise me you'll take the bookshop?" He asked.

I swallowed hard. "I promise." Even though I didn't mean to, I knew that was a lie the moment those two words tumbled from my lips.

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><p><strong>AN: Please accept my apologies regarding the length of this chapter. I wrote the majority of it yesterday when I was on my couch in pain because I pulled a muscle in my back. **

**So I promised the only angst would be surrounding their breakup and a little towards the end. So if you put 2 and 2 together and see that we're possibly heading for a little angst here, it means we're heading towards the end of the story. So just a heads up.**

**You can still donate to Pretty in Pink and receive 2 outtakes from this story, as well as a DMW futuretake and a new one shot from me. Find the link on my profile. **

**The Wharf is coming along nicely. I'm hoping to finish that up soon and start posting. If you haven't read the prologue yet, head over to my profile and check it out.**

**We've extended the Time Warp Contest because we only received 2 entries and were hoping for some more participation. If you were considering writing for it at all (or even if you weren't), you have until mid-November now and you have SO many options for what you can write about. The only thing we require is that it's set before 2000. Who doesn't want to bring back bellbottoms, Nano Pets or horse and buggies?**

**Lastly, I'm participating in the Season of Our Discontent Contest, which is basically an all angst contest. I hope you'll read all the entries and leave the authors some love. When voting is open, I hope you'll vote for your favorites!**

**Thanks!**

**Mandy**


	24. The Pink Pony

The expression "Time Flies" had never had so much significance in my life as it did now. Between the end of our lease, preparing for Alice's wedding and attempting to prepare for Edward's impending departure, I had no time to breathe.

Almost nine months ago he walked back into my life, changing and altering it completely. And now he was changing it again. I just hoped we could adapt. I prayed every night that he would forgive me for what I was doing.

I'd told him that I just couldn't afford the apartment on my own so we decided to end the lease the day after Alice's wedding, the day he was leaving. Alice and Jasper were parading around Europe for three weeks after that so I convinced him that they'd allowed me to stay at their place until I found a new apartment. He helped me pack up my things and store them into boxes. He just didn't know that they were going to storage a little more permanently than a few weeks.

I booked my flight for the day after his, just to give me a little time to tie up some loose ends here. Eleazer had told me that he found someone to take the bookshop, but refused to tell me who it was. I even tried to bribe him with that sugarless candy. Mustache man from the Diabetes commercials would applaud my efforts.

We had our final fitting today at the bridal shop before the rehearsal dinner and bachelorette party tonight. I never really understood the point of having a bachelorette party the night before your wedding. It's highly likely that you'll end up with a hell of a hangover and the need for an STD screening the next morning. Not something I was particularly interested in.

Edward refused to let me see him in his tux, even though I tried to explain to him that the custom only applied to the bride and groom. He still insisted that it was bad luck to see the best man before the ceremony.

So here I was, sitting at the rehearsal dinner between Edward and Alice's Uncle Frank who had one of the worst unibrows I'd ever seen.

"How are ya doing, honey?" He asked me.

"I'm good Uncle Frank. How are you?"

"A little indigestion here and there, but Doc's got me on some good medication for that." He stuffed another forkful of food in his mouth. A little lingered on his mustache and I couldn't help but focus on it bouncing up and down when he spoke. "What are you doing these days?"

"Uh…" I glanced over at Edward, who looked like he was absorbed in conversation with Alice's little cousin.

"That little boy kicked you on the playground?" He asked, feigning shock.

"Hmmhmm," the little girl answered. "Momma said I should just smile at him because it means he likes me."

"I think kicking his ass would be more appropriate," Edward said.

"That's what I said." The little girl sighed and glared at her mother.

I laughed and turned back to Uncle Frank. "I'm taking over ownership of a bookshop," I said. _Lie. _"My boyfriend is headed to the East Coast to go to med school."

"Long distance, eh?" He asked.

"Yeah." _Lie. Lie, lie, lie. _There was a little Angel Bella sitting on my shoulder whispering that in my ear every time I spoke.

I cleared my throat and took a sip of water as Alice's father stood up from his seat. He grabbed his glass and tapped it with his knife.

"I just want to take a moment to thank you all for coming this evening." He smiled and looked down at Alice. "I can't believe my little girl is getting married, but I couldn't have chosen a better man." Alice wiped a tear as her father leaned down to shake Jasper's hand. "And I'm so excited to see the life you two build together."

Edward reached under the table and grabbed my hand. I smiled and gripped it tight as I leaned into him. He glanced my way and mouthed "I love you." I closed the gap between us and pressed my lips against his.

After dinner finished, the boys and girls separated to their respective parties. The girls were having a sleepover and if I knew Emmett, the boys were going to a strip club. There was no other possibility. I couldn't say I was happy about any boobs other than mine being in Edward's face, but I wasn't going to be that crazy person. Boys will be boys. And even I can appreciate a nice rack on a girl. There's nothing wrong with that.

"So. How big is Edward's penis?" Alice asked, giggling and taking another sip of her third drink.

"I don't know Alice, how big is yours?" I cocked my eyebrow. She held up her hands about two feet apart with a big grin on her face. "You should probably call Guinness Book of World Records about that."

"Is it too early to change my Facebook status?" Alice asked, pulling out her computer. Rosalie sat in the chair across the room with a drink in her hand while she flipped through a magazine.

"How is Edward?" Rose asked. "I mean how are you two doing?"

"Really good." I pulled my legs up to my chest and smiled. "It sounds weird but that whole blow up on my birthday was the best thing for our relationship. It actually got us to talk about what happened so we could move past it."

"Well good then. I'm happy for you guys."

"Thanks."

"Okay!" Alice shouted. I rolled my eyes. She was going to hate herself tomorrow morning when she woke up with a hangover headache. "Back to Twenty Questions….Rose…" She narrowed her eyes at her. "Favorite sexual position."

"Reverse cowgirl," she said.

"Doggie style," Alice said.

I got lost fantasizing about sex with Edward. In the kitchen. On the couch. Against the wall. Was simple penetration considered a position?

"Bella?" Alice snapped her fingers in front of my face.

I licked my lips and went with the first thing that came to my head. "Missionary…."

"Lies," Rose said. "Edward is practically my brother. And even though it makes me want to vomit to think about him that way. There's nothing vanilla about that boy."

Vanilla. Sugar. Syrup. Whipped Cream. Whipped cream on Edward.

"Fucking girl hormones…." I mumbled. I was surprised I didn't mount the end of Alice's bed.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket, indicating I had a text message. I flipped it open and tried to read what it said.

**Cuzm 2 zee Baar -E**

"What the fuck does that mean?" I started to type back, but Alice grabbed my phone and tried to sound it out.

"It sounds like they want us to come to the bar," she said. "Where are they?"

"They're at the Pink Pony," Rose said. "It's a strip joint downtown."

"Ooo let's go!" Alice clapped her hands. I shrugged and glanced at Rose.

"Fine but I have to stop at the ATM." She got up and grabbed her purse. "I need some dollar bills."

A half hour later, our cab pulled up in front of the club. There was a group of old men smoking in a huddle outside and a car that had "Pimpmobile" spray painted on the side parked out front.

The old men eyed us curiously as we walked towards the front door.

"You working tonight?" One of them asked Rose.

"No. They won't take me because my dick shows through my G-string," she snapped. Alice and I held in laughter as we walked through the door and into the club.

I felt like my Delorian had been transported back to 1999. Strobe lights. Bad techno music. Mesh. Lots and lots of mesh.

We spotted Jasper and Emmett sitting towards a table at the front. We made our way through the almost entirely male crowd and sat down.

"Where's Edward?" I asked over the music. The woman on stage started humping the floor in a cow print thong.

"Bathroom," Jasper said, downing a shot.

"You let him go to the bathroom in this place?" I protested.

I pulled out my phone to text him that I was here. Rose ordered us all drinks and threw a couple of dollars at the girl dancing on stage.

"God, baby. You're so sexy when you do that," Emmett said, wrapping his arms around her.

The waitress delivered our drinks and I drank half of mine in an instant. I felt out of place here. I'd only been to one other strip club before and someone picked up a dollar bill with their vagina. It wasn't really an experience I wanted to relive.

One of the dancers slinked over in a red bikini and leaned over in front of me. "Would you like a dance?" She purred.

I blinked and looked around. "Excuse me?"

"A dance."

"Oh! Oh no thank you." I looked down and shook my head.

"Well that's too bad because I'm already bought and paid for." She reached behind her to release her tits from her bikini. My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. What the fuck was happening?

"I think you have the wrong person. I didn't buy….you…or whatever."

She smiled and turned around before easing down into my lap. "Oh God," I whispered. Everyone at our table started cheering as I sat there paralyzed. This chick's ass was in my lap, grinding against me like I was the last man on earth.

She moaned and turned around to face me. Her boobs were right in my face as she shrugged her shoulders, causing them to bounce. I was strangely fascinated. Not in the Ellen DeGeneres way, but more like I was looking at a strange museum exhibit that I wanted to poke and prod just to make sure it was real.

"You can touch me if you want to," she said. "I won't mind."

"No. It's okay. Really."

"Alright." She brushed herself up and down my body. Forwards. Backwards. Sideways. Upside down. By the time she was done, I felt dizzy and lightheaded because I'd been holding my breath.

"Thanks, sugar." She winked and put her top back on. Rose's hand appeared beside me, put a dollar bill in my hand, and helped me put it in her G-string.

"Thank you," I said softly, still in shock. I turned to the group. "Who did that?"

They all feigned ignorance and the strange thing was that I believed them. It must have been a big mistake.

"I'm going to go check on Edward. He's been gone a long time," I stuttered. I jumped up from my seat and noticed my dancer watching me from over at the bar. She licked her lips and I stumbled over the chair as I walked away.

I saw a sign for the restrooms so I headed that way and waited outside. After another five minutes, I thought maybe I should just…check to see if he was in there. What if he was sick or passed out or something?

I took a deep breath and pushed open the Men's door a little. A strange grunting sound came from inside. I screamed and jumped back. I didn't even want to know.

I glanced around the club and cursed under my breath when I finally spotted him. He was standing alone in the shadows over in the corner with a beer in his hand. His eyes were focused on me, but he made no effort to move towards me.

I huffed and stomped across the club.

"What the hell are you doing? I asked him.

"Nothing." He smirked.

"Where have you been? I've been worried."

"I was just enjoying the show."

I glanced back at the stage. There was no one on it.

"I'm just glad I got what I paid for…" He leaned down and laughed deviously. "Although I think I enjoyed it much more than you did."

I punched him in the shoulder. "You bought me a lap dance?"

"If it makes you feel any better, it was really hot watching that chick dance on you, baby." He grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me to him. I instantly realized that he was telling the truth. His dick was about to burst through his pants with a light up sign that said "Open for Business."

"Oh yeah?" I placed my hand on his chest.

"Yeah." He kissed me hard and I could taste the alcohol on his tongue. His hands drifted to my ass and pulled my hips roughly against his.

"You're drunk," I mumbled.

"You're sexy."

I laughed and pulled him back to the table. We sat down just as another girl stepped onto the stage. I smiled and rested my hand on Edward's thigh.

"Show me your tits!" Emmett screamed. Rose hollered and threw some money at the stage.

"I'd rather see yours," Edward slurred a little too loud. He glanced down at my cleavage, lingering for a long time. He bit down on his lip and poked my boob once. "You have really nice ones."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"You're welcome!" He said adamantly, bobbing his head.

I shrugged and decided I might as well join in. I reached over and grabbed a few dollars from Rose. Edward's eyes got big as I stood up, looking like I was going to throw some on stage. Instead I turned around, tucked them into the waistband of his pants and winked.

"How'd you like to come home with me tonight, hot stuff?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: *drops to my knees* This update took a lot longer than it was supposed to so sorry about that. Hope you guys are still with me. **

**I've had a lot of things going on, so I hope you'll check out my profile for links to contests (which you should be writing for), other contests (that you should be reading because I'm participating in), stories (that you should be reading) and just good things. Also I posted another mini-fic called The Wharf so I hope you'll read it. It's almost complete. **

**Thank you a million times for your reviews and kind words. They are greatly appreciated.**

**p.s. I don't know why, but the idea of Rose and Emmett tag teaming at a Strip Club entertained me. So I wrote it LOL**


	25. I Think Whoops Would Be Appropriate

I opened my eyes the next morning and was instantly met with ass. Edward's ass. He was laying completely butt naked right next to me. Then I looked down and realized I was butt naked too. I squirmed a little bit and something squeaked below me.

"What the hell?" I sighed when I realized we were not in either of our bedrooms. We were in the living room. "Fucking beanbag," I mumbled

I lay back down and pulled a blanket over my body. My alarm went off ten minutes later and I groaned even though I was already awake.

Edward grumbled and slowly propped himself up on his knees.

"Shit," he said with a wince. He looked around the room, confused. "Why are we out here?"

"I think we had sex. On your beanbag."

"Why would you think that?" He asked.

"Because you're naked." I lifted up my blanket. "And I'm naked."

"I'm naked?" He glanced over his shoulder at his bare ass. "I thought it was a bit drafty."

"We have to get up. Alice and Jasper are getting married today." I rocked a few times, trying to get up off the floor. I finally made it up and pulled the blanket with me.

I turned on the shower and heard Edward shuffling around in his room so I figured he was up and awake. I dropped my blanket and stepped into the shower. A few moments later, Edward joined me.

"Communal shower?" I cocked my eyebrow.

"Just gotta wash the essentials. I'm going to be late." He grabbed the soap and furiously started rubbing it over his body.

"We're the girls!" I protested. "How long does it take you to get ready?"

"Baby, we have to look good too." He leaned down to kiss me. "I know it's all about the bride, but we refuse to look like bums."

"Where are you going so early?"

"Mani, pedi appointment at ten." He rinsed off and jumped out of the shower. I peeked out just in time to see his little butt run out of the bathroom, dripping all over the floor.

"Did you just say mani, pedi?"

"Nothing wrong with keeping the skin soft." He reappeared, pulling a shirt over his head and running his fingers through his hair. "I have to go." He leaned in and kissed me. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." I shook my head and snuck back inside to finish my shower.

When I was finished, I got dressed and dried my hair. Alice called twice to ask why I was late for our hair appointment and I told her I was on my way. It was only two blocks away.

As soon as I set foot in the hair salon I was forced down into a table and surrounded by girls who smelled like Jersey Shore and apparently couldn't chew their gum with their mouth closed.

They curled, poked, prodded, pinned and primped me until my hair was as hard as concrete. I raised my hand to touch it and instantly flinched back.

"It's perfect!" Alice clapped. "Perfect." Her hair was simple compared to mine, but she didn't have much to work with. Her short pixie cut was grown out to just between her ear and her jaw line. It was straight, barely flipped out at the ends. She opted for a birdcage veil and a vintage diamond pin for her headpiece.

"Perfect," I whispered to her with a smile. "You're beautiful." I reached out and took her hand. "You're going to be the most beautiful bride."

"You're right." She smiled. "Until you get married anyway."

"I doubt that's happening for awhile. Edward still has to get through med school."

"Don't worry. I have it all planned out." She smiled that devious smile that told me she wasn't lying. It fucking scared me.

When our hair was finished and hair sprayed to their liking, the Snooki wannabes released us from their grasp and we took a cab to the hall where the wedding was being held.

Alice and I were whisked to a back room where our dresses were waiting.

Even though I protested that it was her day, Alice begged me to let her do my makeup. I didn't argue too much though. I knew that kind of thing made her happy. While I was sitting there getting primped, my mind kept wandering to my situation with Edward.

"What's on your mind, honey?" Alice asked.

"Isn't that my line?" I smiled.

She shrugged. "It's Edward isn't it?"

"Partly."

"Are you following your heart?...Whatever the situation might be?"

"Yes," I said with confidence. There was never any doubt in that.

"Then that's all that matters." She smiled and finished with my makeup. I slipped into my deep purple dress before helping Alice with hers. Her mother showed up just in time to help me button up the back. By the time we'd slipped her shoes on and put her jewelry in place, her father was standing at the door telling us it was time.

It felt like it went too fast. Not just this morning, but my friendship with her. I knew her marriage didn't mean that was all over, but more and more I was feeling like time was just…slipping away. With everyone.

There was a curtain drawn separating us as we waited from the crowd. I was a little nervous, knowing that everyone was going to be watching me as I walked down the aisle. I didn't even want to think about my own wedding. That was sure to be a fucking fiasco.

The music started playing and everyone's voices muffled to a low murmur as the curtain drew back. I was instantly met with a hundred pairs of eyes and I smiled nervously.

"You're up, B," Alice chirped from behind me. I told my feet to move and they finally did. I looked down the aisle, hoping to see Edward. There was big topiary in my way and I was not happy about it. I was about ready to fling my bouquet down there and knock it over. I didn't get the point of a topiary anyway. And where the hell did that name even come from?

By the time I was done contemplating the origin of the decorations, I'd reached the end. I saw him as soon as I stepped past the plant and my knees nearly buckled. For a moment, I saw us at our wedding. Almost like I was the bride in the white dress and he was waiting for me at the altar. It all seemed so real that it took my breath away.

He smirked at me as I took in his all black suit and took my place across from him. I bit down on my lip as he appraised my appearance. I barely noticed everyone standing up as Alice walked down the aisle, but I forced my eyes away from his because I didn't want to miss this moment. I wanted to see the exact second when Jasper saw her. And damn I'm glad I did.

I watched his dimples pop up suddenly as soon as he saw her. He rocked back and forth on his heels, almost like he was holding himself back from sprinting down the aisle to get her. He shook his head, not in a negative way. More like he couldn't believe that this was his life. So grateful. So appreciative. So full of love that I had to wipe a tear away from my cheek.

As soon as she reached him, I turned back towards Edward. He was standing with his hands locked behind his back. The minister started talking, but I was so completely lost in him that I didn't hear their vows. I didn't hear the "Dearly Beloved" or one word about "Kissing the bride." Edward smiled and mouthed "I love you" a moment before the crowd erupted in applause. My head snapped back towards the bride and groom and I couldn't help but smile as they kissed for the first time as a married couple.

I reached for Edward as soon as Alice and Jasper started down the aisle. He closed his hand around mine and pulled me close as we followed them out of the crowd. Once the four of us were alone, we all hugged and said our congratulations. A photographer was there to take a few pictures, but luckily I didn't feel like I was a showcase at the prom again. I was thankful that Alice wasn't the Bridezilla some people thought she would be. Sure she had her moments, but at the very heart of her wedding, she just wanted to celebrate love. It wasn't flashy or showy. Just pure and simple. And that's what this was.

After we took our pictures, we headed into the dining hall where the guests were having cocktail hour. We socialized like a good wedding party, but I still really hadn't a chance to talk to Edward. Just the two of us.

I tried to steal him away before dinner, but it was impossible. Everyone wanted to speak to him on med school, which he'd suddenly become really secretive about. He always glanced my way before he'd speak and even then it was vague.

Dancing started right after the cake was cut and he finally whisked me away on the dance floor.

"I can finally breathe," I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder. He laughed and kissed the top of my head as we started moving further and further away from the crowd on the dance floor. He pulled me behind a curtain and kissed me. Hard.

"I've been aching to do that since I saw you walking down the aisle…" He mumbled.

"Good." I smiled against his lips and wrapped my arms around his waist. "You look so handsome."

"It must have been the mani, pedi." He ran his perfectly soft fingers along my jaw.

"Must have been."

We must have been gone for way too long because the next thing I knew I heard chants for both of us. I peeked my head out from the curtain and realized it must have been time for speeches.

I hadn't really prepared anything. I figured even if I had, I would just stumble through it so it wouldn't have been worth it anyway. It went okay regardless. Just a couple of "ums" and stutters, but I managed to get out my congratulations and best wishes.

As the night wore on, I started getting anxious about tomorrow. I mean I knew he wasn't leaving me. Well he was, but I was following him. I guess I was just more anxious about his reaction. He was going to be happy, right?

Due to the fact that most of the wedding guests were older, the party ended fairly early, but I didn't mind. They had retirement home curfews to get back to and I had a hot boyfriend I had to go sex up.

We walked home from the hall since it wasn't too far from our apartment. Well, he carried me because my feet were hurting like a bitch. So he walked. I rode.

He seemed really carefree. I was hoping it was the wine or the spirit of tonight, because something was off about his behavior if you really thought about it. As far as he knew, this was our last night together for a long time. He was moving across the country tomorrow. And he thought I was staying here. Shouldn't he be just a little upset? Just a little.

When we got home, we had to navigate through the maze of boxes that used to be our apartment. All the little things were packed up and the movers were coming to get the big furniture tomorrow. I'd already paid for a few months of storage and figured we would just play it by ear after that.

Edward stripped off his suit and hung it up on the back of the door as I shimmied out of my dress. I turned back to look over my shoulder and give him my "I want sex" face. It turned to complete and utter shock. He was asleep. Already passed out on my bed.

"Edward," I said. I crossed my arms over my chest. "Edward!"

He rolled over and curled up into the fetal position. I felt the tears threaten behind my eyes as I watched him drift into a deeper sleep. I didn't know why I was so upset. He was just tired. And it wasn't like we were really going to be living on opposite sides of the country. _But shouldn't he be upset, Bella? He's acting like tomorrow is nothing to him. Does he not care that, as far as he knows, he's moving away from you? Does he even care at all?_

I didn't understand his reaction. I didn't understand why he wasn't nervous or all up in my business. And the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. This was fucking ridiculous.

I wasn't tired at all. I think my limitless rage was some type of caffeine substitute because I was wired.

I sat down next to him and pulled my knees up to my chest as I watched the minutes tick by. One after the other, inching closer to his flight.

He finally woke up two hours before he had to be at the airport. He rolled over with a big smile on his face until he saw mine.

"What's wrong?" He asked, popping up.

"What's wrong?" I cocked my eyebrow. "Are you serious? What's wrong?" I stood up and started pacing around the room. "What's wrong is that you're leaving today. And I'm staying here." _Not really true. _"And you seem happy as a fucking clam."

"Bella, don't be ridiculous…" He started.

"No, no, no…" I said, shaking my head. "I'm not being ridiculous. I'm being…normal. And you…" I pointed at him. "You're not normal. You're not being normal right now." I felt a little bit like a rambling Chihuahua and had a feeling my rage buzz was starting to backfire. I was going to vomit. "This is not normal!"

"You don't understand," he laughed a little under his breath.

"You think…this is funny?"

"Actually, I do."

My jaw went slack. "Have a nice flight, asshole."

I spun around and darted out into the hallway and towards the front door. He didn't even chase after me.

I needed a minute to collect my thoughts and maybe get some real caffeine before I talked to him again. I knew I'd be back before he was planning on leaving for the airport, but I thought that last bit added a little bit of dramatic affect.

I walked around the block a few times and stopped in the corner shop for a coffee. I ambled through a few clothing shops for an hour to pass the time. While I climbed the steps back up to the apartment, I tried to think of what to say to him. Maybe I should just tell him the truth. It wouldn't make me any less pissed at him for how he was acting, but maybe it would help clear the air.

I pushed open the door the apartment, feeling a little sad about the fight we'd just had. In my crazy state, I didn't even let him speak. Even though I was mad at him, I should have let him say his peace, even if it was complete bullshit.

"Edward?" I called out, sighing as I started down the hallway. He was probably up and getting dressed. He had to leave in about twenty minutes. "Honey, I'm sorry." I ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm just stressed and I don't really understand…" I stopped when I reached my bedroom. It was empty.

"Edward?" I walked over to the bathroom. His room. The kitchen. All empty. I went back to my room and started to panic. Where was he?

I spotted the note on my nightstand and my heart dropped.

_I'm sorry. I love you. _

_ -E_

I looked around the room. His suitcase was gone. He left. He left early.

The paper fell from my hands and I started sobbing. I was such a bitch. And he left.

The next thing I knew I was running out of the apartment and down the stairs. I caught a taxi and made my way to the airport. I didn't care that my flight was tomorrow. I had to fix this.

I approached the woman at the desk and slammed my credit card down.

"I need a ticket on the next flight to Boston," I said.

She scowled and typed away at her computer. "The next flight with an available seat leaves in an hour and a half."

"That's fine, book it."

She processed my ticket, asked if I had any baggage and told me where my gate was. I passed quickly through security, mostly because I didn't have anything on me.

I boarded the flight, sitting next to an old lady who hogged the armrest. The entire time I was waiting for the plane to take off, I tried to think of what to say to him. Not only did I have to recover for that horrendous freak out this morning, but I had to explain what I'd done. Why I was moving for him. Why I was willing to sacrifice.

"Nervous about the flight?" The old woman asked.

"No. Not at all." It was the flight. It was what was waiting for me at the landing.

"Want to talk about it?"

I shrugged. "Okay."

For the remainder of the flight, I told Doris our story starting at the very beginning. By the time we landed, the seats in front and back of us were chiming in with their two cents. When I left the airplane, I felt like I'd sat in for a segment of Hot Topics on The View.

I decided I should probably call him before I left the airport since I had no fucking idea where he was or where his new apartment was. I cringed as I dialed his phone number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey," I whispered, feeling a little embarrassed. "Where are you?"

"At the apartment."

"Well where is it? I'm here."

There was a long pause. "You're where?"

"I'm here. Where's the apartment?"

"You don't know where your apartment is?"

I sighed. "I know where my apartment is. Where are you?"

"At the apartment. I already told you."

"Edward Cullen! I did not fly all the way to Boston to fuck around! Tell me where your apartment is!"

Another long pause. "You're in Boston?"

"Yes."

"Bella…" He sighed. He seemed agitated. Oh crap, I pissed him off.

"I wanted to surprise you."

"I'm not in Boston."

I couldn't breathe. "You're what?"

"I'm not in Boston."

"Well where are you?"

"I'm at. The. Apartment."

"In Washington?" I cocked my head to the side.

"In Washington."

"Well….shit." I looked around at all the people passing by me and scrunched my nose. "Whoops."

"I think whoops would be appropriate. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was following you, baby. I didn't want to live anywhere without you so I told Eleazer I wasn't taking the bookshop. He got someone else to run it."

"No he didn't."

"He didn't?"

"No. Because I know you well enough to know how your brain works. I called him the day we had that fight…told him what you were planning. Although I thought I'd have a bit of a buffer before you actually bought a plane ticket."

"You knew? This whole time?"

"Of course." I could only imagine the smug smile on his face. "But wait. That still doesn't explain why you're there and I'm here...and why do I still have the bookshop?"

"I was waiting to tell you. And I was going to before I got so rudely interrupted this morning." He cleared his throat. "I got into state."

"What?" I breathed.

"It was a late admission and I didn't even know until last week that I'd been accepted. I didn't want to tell you if it wasn't going to happen because I couldn't stand to see the disappointment in your face."

He was going to state. We could be together. I was sobbing. The security guard was watching me like I was a complete psycho. He leaned over and mumbled something into his radio.

"I can't believe you did that…" I said, a blissful smile spreading across my face.

"I can't believe you got on a fucking plane to chase after me."

"It's a little romantic." I sniffled.

"Just a little." He sighed. "Well will you get back here so I can touch you and tell you how amazing you are? I go to get you your favorite ice cream and come back to find you've fled the city. Get your ass back here."

I smiled and did the calculations in my head, thinking we needed a mini-vacation.

"I've got a better idea." I turned back towards the ticket counter. "Meet me halfway?"

He laughed. "Always," he whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: PSA! This was the last regular chapter. There will be an epi.**

**So I've been looking forward to writing this one for a long time. Because I think its super romantic to just jump on a plane because you have to see someone...even if its a whoops. ; )**

**I never planned to go into major detail with the wedding and I hope everyone was okay with that. I just figured there's weddings in almost every fic and it's been done. *shrugs***

**We finally get to see what was going on with Edward! He had a plan to counteract Bella's plan! Silly boy.**

**Thank you a million times for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I'll see you soon in the epi :)**


	26. Epilogue

**This is not beta'd or preread. You all are the very first to read, feel special. I refused to let ImHereToReview even know what was going to happen because I wanted to surprise her :)**

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><p>My alarm clock woke me up early. I'd like to say I was used to it by now, with Edward always up at the ass crack of dawn to get to work, but I wasn't. I was exhausted. Worn out. It wasn't that I didn't love our life together, but lately I've just needed a break. Which is why I was really excited that we were taking a vacation. Excluding our pre-wedding honeymoon to Denver and our actual honeymoon, we hadn't had much time for relaxing lately.<p>

I'd kept the bookshop, just like Edward had planned all along. He commuted to state for med school and was lucky enough to get placed in the local hospital for his clinicals. Med school was stressful for him, stressful for me, stressful for our relationship. But we stuck together. We'd stopped keeping secrets, except for that one time I threw him that surprise birthday party. And we trusted each other with everything that we had. Through our kooky, sometimes always strange personalities, we'd manage to build this crazy, beautiful life together.

Our wedding was small due to my fear of falling down the aisle. I guess I figured if I was going to fall, I'd rather have it be in a small room with only a few people. Less cameras. Less chance of me ending up on America's Funniest Home Videos.

We took a honeymoon roadtrip down the California coast before he had to get back to start work and we've been busy ever since.

We'd acquired a new roommate last month, since this new three bedroom apartment was almost too big for just the two of us. Edward used one of the spare bedrooms as an office, but we never really used the other one before now.

I peeked into the newbie's bedroom a few times, in complete shock that he was still sleeping. I didn't know anyone could sleep that much.

Alice called me just as I was getting ready to head to the hospital to pick Edward up. New roommate had insisted on coming with me to see Edward and who was I to argue.

"Hey Ali," I answered.

"Hey! When are you guys leaving?" She asked.

"On the way to get Edward now. Jack's in the backseat." I glanced back. He was asleep with drool running down his face.

"So how's it going with him?"

I sighed. I loved the new roommate. I really did. But there were a few things…just a few… "He's loud…at all hours of the night. I'm surprised Edward can sleep through it. I always have to get up and go talk to him." I shook my head. "And he poops. He poops all the time. Smells up the whole apartment."

"Well what did you expect?" She laughed.

"I'm just pulling into the hospital now. We'll be there by 3." I hung up the phone and opened the door to the back so Jack could go inside. He loved visiting Edward at the hospital.

We went inside and were immediately greeted by the ladies at the front desk. They knew us by now. I waved as we started towards the elevator. Edward had been working in surgery recovery since early this morning.

We rounded a corner and I spotted him standing at the nurses' station filling out some paperwork. I paused for a moment and smirked. I couldn't get over how good he looked in that white lab coat.

Edward finally looked up and smiled when he saw us. "Hello Mrs. Cullen."

"Hey Doc." I sauntered towards him as his attention turned to Jack.

"Wanna help daddy finish up his paperwork?" He asked Jack. The kid was only a month old, it wasn't like he could answer, but it didn't matter to Edward. He talked to him all the time. And not just the "ooh" and "ahh" that everyone did when they were looking at a newborn. He talked to him like he was a big kid. Sometimes I really felt like they understood each other.

Edward reached out and took Jack from my arms. He tucked him into one arm and Jack's head found its place on Edward's shoulder as he turned back to his paperwork. He rocked slowly back and forth as he struggled to write with one hand. When he was finished he handed it to the nurse sitting at the station.

"Keep 12 on the IV for another hour or so then she should be set to be discharged. Make sure she gets instructions for aftercare and I'd like to see her back in a week to check out the incision." He nodded and turned towards me. "Okay I'm ready."

He clocked out and carried Jack out to the car. He grabbed the normal clothes I had waiting for him in the seat and ran back inside to change while I strapped the baby into the carseat.

"Are you going to be good for Aunt Alice, baby boy?" I asked, running my fingers through his soft baby hairs. He was already the spitting image of Edward and I knew it wasn't going to be long before the girls were chasing him around the playground. I just hoped he would react better than I had at that age. Kicking the boys and running away while they screamed in pain landed me several trips to the principal's office.

Edward emerged moments later in jeans and a t-shirt. He slipped into the passenger's seat and we were off to Aunt Alice's. She spoiled the kid more in one month than we probably ever would.

Edward help carry all of Jack's things into the house when we arrived as Jack slept on my chest. I leaned down and kissed his head, thinking that this was the first time we'd really be leaving him alone with anyone but each other. It was a big step.

"We'll be fine," Alice said, taking him into her arms. "Uncle Jasper will be home soon and we're going to have so much fun!" She made a face at Jack and he looked at her like she was doing fucking cartwheels across a flaming board. Completely fascinated.

"Okay I guess that's it." Edward put his hands on his hips and sighed. I'll admit I was a little anxious to leave Jack, it was only normal. But Edward looked like he was about to take the kid and run for the hills.

"Honey, it's time to go," I said softly, touching Edward's arm. I leaned down and kissed Jack again, telling him how much I loved him. Edward did the same and reluctantly followed me to the car. "Edward…" I scolded gently, trying to hold it together.

His face was glued to the window as we pulled away until we couldn't see the house anymore.

"Are you going to make it?" I asked, laughing under my breath.

"Maybe we should call to see if everything's alright?" He asked.

"We just left five minutes ago!"

"Five minutes is a long time, Bella," he said seriously.

"Yeah for you five minutes is a long time. I'd be happy if you made it to two minutes." I cocked my eyebrow at him and hoped the joke would ease his tension. I sighed and grabbed his hand. "Edward, we haven't had sex in two weeks. Two weeks. Can you please just relax and enjoy our time alone?"

"I'll try."

"Would you try a little harder if you knew I went shopping for some lingerie?"

"That would probably make me try a little harder, yes."

I turned off the remote, deserted road that our GPS indicated as some kind of short cut back to town. It looked a little more like Children of the Corn to me. I couldn't understand why Alice and Jasper wanted to live in the middle of nowhere.

Edward was still acting like a Sullen Cullen and it was driving me nuts.

"Fine." I slowly pulled over to the side of the road and jumped into the backseat.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Come on. We're doing it right now. You need a jumpstart or something."

"Bella, we're not having sex in the middle of nowhere. There's probably crazy people that live out here."

"Would you prefer for me to drive downtown so we have an audience of normal people?"

"No."

I smiled and pulled my jeans and underwear off. "Come on then." I threw them up at him as I pulled my shirt over my head. "I'm naked and alone and I'd suggest you get back here right now." I draped my bra over his shoulder and that finally got his attention. He slowly turned his head back over his shoulder and smirked.

"Are you trying to kill me, woman?" He sighed.

"No, I'm trying to fuck you." I shook my hair out and let if fall over my bare breasts.

I barely had time to react before he pounced into the backseat, pulling his shirt off along the way. "If you hear banjos…run…" He whispered.

I laughed and fell down onto the seat. His jeans flew into the air, quickly followed by his boxers. I couldn't say that having sex on leather seats was the best or quietest experience I'd ever had, but it was Edward. We made it work.

I found myself straddling his waist as he sat in the middle seat. His hands were gripping my hips, guiding me up and down his length with haste.

"God, I want you." His head fell forward and brushed against my breasts. He nipped at my skin as a bead of sweat slid down the back of his neck. "I want you pregnant again, baby."

My vagina clamped down in defense. I know most women would find it really sweet that their husbands want to see them all swollen with their child growing inside them, but it was too soon. Too soon. I needed at least a year or two of recovery time before I went down that road again. Have you seen the beauty of birth? More like excrutiating, painful mess.

"Oh honey," I sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing." I smiled and kissed his head. "Nothing."

We finished our backseat escapade and scrambled back to the front seat as a car drove by. I blushed, thinking about how close we were to being caught.

Edward drove us back to the city. Back to our parking lot. Back to our apartment.

"Do you think it's weird that we're taking a vacation in our own apartment?" I mumbled as we climbed the stairs.

"Not at all." He shook my head. "Not when I've got a roommate like you."

I smiled and popped up to kiss him. "You left the toilet seat up again this morning."

"Did not…" He said.

"Did too."

"At least I didn't leave my bikini line trimmer out for all to see…"

"You trim your bikini line?"

"You're a smartass," he said, tucking me under his arm.

"You love me anyway."

We both sank down into our couch, completely exhausted. He pulled the blanket over us as I snuggled onto his chest. "I do. I love you anyway."

I blissfully started to drift off to sleep, thinking about how perfect my life was. And then, just before I slipped into unconsciousness, I heard it. The crunch crunch. I opened my eyes and looked up at Edward, who was stuffing a chip into his mouth.

He leaned down and held the bag out to me with a smile. "Chip?"

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><p><strong><span>Disclaimer<span>: A few people have brought up concerns about the timeline for getting jiggy with it after a baby. The average time is about 6 weeks after birth, but a doctor can clear a woman anywhere from 2-6 weeks after birth if it was a smooth delivery. It really all depends on the comfort level for the woman and making sure there are no problems down there. So yes 6 weeks is normal, but its not in concrete that you have to wait that long. So them having sex with a new born who's over a month old is not inaccurate. Besides, when have these 2 ever gone with the norm?**

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><p><strong>A****N: So...that's it. Anyone who knows me knows that I have issues with endings. I'm never satisfied with the last line so I just keep going and I get myself all stressed out about it. But then I sat back and thought what's a better ending for this story than Edward and his chips. So here it is.**

**As most of you know, I'm retiring from FF writing for now. And I can't say how weird it feels already. I want to dedicate this last story to anyone and everyone who has ever read my stories or supported me in any way. It means the world to me and inspired me to write. So that's what I'll be doing. I'm currently working on my first original novel :)**

**I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I loved writing it. I want to thank you for believing in youth, mistakes and second chances because at its core, all the humor aside, that's what it was about.**

**"I'd like to say 'thank you' on behalf of the group and ourselves, and I hope we passed the audition!"- John Lennon**

**Love always,**

**Mandy**


	27. Outtake: The Breakup

**This is just one of the 2 outtakes I submitted to the Pretty in Pink Compilation back in October. Both outtakes are EPOV. This first one is his POV of their breakup and the second will be his trip to the store for Bella's...needs. I figured we'd get the painful one out of the way first. Thank you to those who donated!**

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><p>"Just one night, Sir?" The man at the hotel reception glanced up and me as he typed at his computer.<p>

"Yes, please." I handed him my credit card and glanced around. At least I wasn't in Forks. I was too worried about someone seeing us and it getting back to Charlie. I wanted tonight to be special, with no distractions. She deserved it after the hell I put her through.

He swiped my card and handed it back to me. "Alright, Mr. Cullen." He gathered up some papers and picked up a key envelope. "Here is all of your information and your key for the room. Room service is open until 1 A.M. and checkout is at noon. Is there anything else?" He slid everything my way.

"Nope. I guess that's it." I nodded my head. "Thanks."

I went to the room to check and see that everything was acceptable, because I sure as hell wasn't bringing my woman to some dingy ass hotel.

I ran to the store and got some candles and a box of condoms. The guy who was ringing me up looked like he was about fifteen. He was blushing more than I was. I smirked and handed him some cash.

"Have a nice evening," he stuttered.

"Will do."

I went back to the hotel and set everything up so it was ready to go when we got back here. Bella didn't know about the whole hotel thing. She thought we were going to my place, but there was no way I was chancing my brother walking in on us. We'd been planning, holding out for this moment since we met each other.

Once everything was to my liking, I started back to Forks to pick her up. My palms were sweaty, shaking against the steering wheel as I pulled into my driveway. I spotted Alice's car and smiled, internally thanking Alice for getting her here. She made an extravagant display in front of Charlie to ensure that he wouldn't think twice about her staying at Alice's for the night, even though it was a school night. Bella's truck was parked in Alice's driveway, just in case Charlie did a driveby.

I parked the car and headed inside. Emmett and Rose were sitting downstairs watching television. I looked around the room, searching for her.

"She's up in your room," Emmett said.

I stumbled up the stairs and slowly made my way to my room at the end of the hall. The door was slightly ajar, allowing a sliver of light to seep into the hallway.

I pushed the door open and silently walked into the room. Bella was sitting at my desk, holding onto a picture of the two of us on my birthday last year. My heart sank as she wiped a tear from her eye.

I came up behind her and softly put my hands on her shoulders. "Hey baby, are you okay?"

She sniffled and straightened up, setting the picture back on the desk. "Yeah I'm fine." She cleared her throat and smiled.

"You know we don't have to…" I shook my head. "I mean if you're not ready."

"No," she said adamantly. "I want to." She nodded her head and stood up. "Is everything ready?"

"Yep." I reached for her hand and squeezed it tight as I led her from my room. She had a small bag waiting by the front door, so I grabbed it as we said goodbye to Rose and Emmett.

Bella was silent the entire way to the hotel. I kept glancing her way, looking for some kind of…answer. She seemed nervous and I guess she had every right to be, but I didn't want her to think that we had to do this. I was just as anxious, but I'd never been more sure of anything in my life. We were meant to be together, whether we had sex tonight or not. I would always and forever belong to her and she held a permanent place in my heart.

I smiled when we got to the hotel, trying to lighten the mood. I grabbed her bag and led her through the lobby. I felt like everyone was staring at us like they knew. It was almost like I was that kid on Prom Night losing his virginity. Everyone knew.

When we got to the room, I told her to count to fifty before coming inside. I rushed in, lit a match and quickly lit all the candles. I frantically looked around once more, just to make sure everything looked okay.

I held my breath as the door inched open and she peeked her head inside. She sighed as she took in the scene and a smile settled over her lips.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

"It's beautiful." She closed the door behind her and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Know what else is beautiful?" I took a step towards her and cocked my eyebrow. "You." I kissed her nose and pulled her into my arms. She shivered. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I stiffened as I felt her sob into my chest. I sighed and kissed her head. I was convinced that something was off. Something wasn't right. Something was…missing.

"Bella," I whispered. "There's something you aren't telling me."

Her breath quickened as she turned her eyes to me. "I love you," she cried. "I love you so much. Do you understand that?"

"Yes." I assumed that this meant that she was saying no. She wasn't ready.

I turned around and blew one of the candles out. As soon as I turned back towards her, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. The next thing I knew she was reaching for my shirt, undoing each button with haste.

"I want to," she said, before I could ask again. "Please."

After a few moments, my body relaxed a little against her and I was kissing her back. I smiled against her lips and brushed her hair behind her ear as she pushed my shirt off my shoulders. Her lips were on my neck, down my chest.

"I'm so sorry about everything I put you through," I whispered. "It wasn't fair to push you away like that and…" I shook my head. "Damnit, I was wrong to try and move on. There's no moving on from you. Ever."

"It's okay," she stuttered. The tears were still streaming down her face and I couldn't understand how she forgave me so easily. I wanted to be with her more than anything, but her forgiveness was never something I could comprehend or even really accept. I was nothing. And she was everything.

I gently pushed her down on the bed and kissed her cheeks as I fumbled with her jeans. She sniffled, her tears finally slowing as she smiled up at me. She lifted her lower body up so I could pull her jeans and underwear down to her ankles. She kicked them off the rest of the way and started pawing at her shirt.

"Relax, Bella." I laughed and placed my hands over hers. "Let's take it slow, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded and sucked her bottom lip between her teeth. "Okay."

"Okay." I slowly leaned down and brushed my lips against her neck as I pulled her shirt up. "Up," I said.

She lifted her arms and I pulled her shirt up over her head. I slid her bra strap down and kissed her shoulder before following suit with the other. She sat up and reached behind her to unhook her bra. It fell into her stomach and I swiped it away, pushing it on the floor.

And then I kissed her. I meant what I said, I didn't want to rush this. I kissed her lips. I kissed her cheeks and her jaw. I kissed the middle of her chest before spending some time at the peaks of her breasts. I kissed the hollow of her stomach and dipped lower to that freckle on her inner thigh.

Her legs were tightening around me, pulling me closer to her. She reached for my pants. I stood up for a moment and unzipped them before kicking them off to join hers on the floor.

I crawled back up her body, aching from my toes to the top of my head because I was so anxious to feel her.

"Are you ready?" I asked softly.

She nodded and closed her eyes as I reached for the condom. I ripped open the foil and reached between us, slipping it on myself before hovering above her.

"You have to promise to tell me if I hurt you okay." I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Promise me?"

"I promise."

I looked down and reached between us again, positioning myself at her center. I told myself to go slow. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was hurt her. _God, please don't let me hurt her._

I pushed myself slightly inside her, watching her face as I went for any signs of pain. Her eyes didn't widen in surprise like I thought they would. Instead of love, I saw…sadness.

"Bella?" My brow furrowed, asking her again what was bothering her. Her bottom lip quivered before disappearing between her teeth. She was trying to hold them in, the tears. And in that moment, I panicked and pulled out "Shit!" I said. "Shit, I hurt you didn't I?" I kissed her cheeks and her forehead. "I'm so sorry, baby."

Her eyes were wide now. Wide and staring straight up towards me, but not at me. "I slept with Jake."

I froze, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me. "What?" I asked, my voice breaking.

"I slept with Jake." She started crying again as her hand flew up over her mouth.

I sat up as the words echoed over and over in my head, along with all the promises we made. The promises she made to me, the promises I made to myself and to her. They were all broken. And now we were broken.

"I don't…" I stuttered. I stood up and pulled at my hair. "I don't understand…I thought…"

"It was such a horrible mistake," she cried. "It was when we were broken up and I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry for what I did." She buried her head in her hands as I fought back the anger. I was numb, unfeeling. Maybe it was my body's way of protecting me from the pain I should be experiencing right now. Bella just broke my heart. And I helped her do it.

My head and my heart were fighting for control over my emotions and I couldn't even decide which one was winning. I was angry at her. I was angry at myself. And I couldn't breathe.

"Edward, please say something…" She cried.

"I can't…be here with you right now."

"What?" She shook her head. "Talk to me." She reached for me.

"I can't…do this, Bella!" I screamed. "How could you?" I ran my fingers through my hair. "How could you do this to us?" _How could she do this, how could you do this? It's your fault._ _You…drove her to him._

I started frantically picking her clothes up off the floor as I tried to keep myself in check. I hated her. I loved her. I didn't know how I was supposed to act or how I was supposed to feel but I knew that this emptiness deep inside the pit of my chest wasn't okay. Almost like a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment.

"Edward," she started.

"Put your clothes on." I threw her clothes at her and started getting dressed. I blew out all of the candles.

"Can't…"

"Put. Your clothes on. We're leaving." I slipped my wallet into my back pocket and threw everything I'd bought in the trash.

She finished in silence and waited for me by the door. We left the room and started towards the elevator. I pushed the button and watched as the numbers above the door dragged on, getting closer and closer to us. It was too slow. It was driving me nuts standing here beside her. I wanted to push her away and then pull her into my arms. The battle continued.

I screamed in frustration and forced open the door to the stairway beside us. Bella watched me go, her jaw slack in surprise. I stomped down the stairs. Flight after flight. Step after step just wanting to get to my car so I could get the hell out of here. I was suffocating.

I went to the front desk and slammed the key down on the counter.

"Checking out," I said, out of breath.

"Is there something wrong, Sir?" The person at the desk recognized me from earlier. _Was something wrong? Yeah, my whole world just went up in flames._

"No. Can you please just hurry up?" I rubbed my forehead.

"Of course…Mr…Cullen?"

I nodded. I stood impatiently as they typed away at their computer. I heard the ding of the elevator a moment before the doors opened. Bella stepped out, her face tearstained and splotchy. She hovered a few steps behind me, careful not to get too close.

"We'll have your reservation until tomorrow, we'll unfortunately have to charge for the whole night…" The receptionist started.

"Fucking charge it okay?" I slammed my fist down on the counter. They jumped and started typing faster.

"Edward," Bella scolded softly.

I tapped my fingers on the counter as I waited. I signed their receipt, grabbed my card and stomped off. I heard Bella apologize for me before running after me.

I got in the car and waited in silence for her to catch up. She finally got in and put her seatbelt on before turning towards me. I knew what she wanted to say. Her heart was breaking just like mine. I could see it across her face and the thing that killed me is that I wanted to comfort her. But I couldn't.

"Edward," she said. I reached down and flipped the radio on, turning the volume up as high as I could stand. I couldn't hear what she had to say. I couldn't.

She leaned her head against the window, turned away from me as she cried the whole way home. I wiped away a stray tear from my own eye as I turned down her street.

She said my name again as I pulled up front of her house.

"Just…get out. I can't look at you anymore." And I couldn't. I had to keep my eyes straight ahead because I could feel the pain starting to break through my defenses. Everytime I even though about looking at her, I felt it. And I felt the anger, burning like a flame right beneath my skin. I had to leave. She had to leave.

"Edward, please just talk to me."

"Get out of my fucking car Bella." I gripped the steering wheel as I fought back the tears. Fucked. Everything was fucked. "It's over."

I barely believed that the words were falling from my lips, but there they were. Plain as day. We were over.

I closed my eyes when she slammed the car door and forced my foot down on the pedal. I screeched around the corner, sped way too quickly through town and started towards my house. Instead of turning down my driveway, I raced past it, towards La Push.

I knew where Jake's house was. Bella had had this strange notion that he and I were going to be best friends. It wasn't that I had a problem with her having a guy as one of her best friends. I was jealous, if anything. I knew that despite how…deep and infinite I thought our love was, they would always have something different. But I trusted them. Apparently they didn't deserve that.

I saw his piece of shit car parked outside so I knew he was home. I parked the car and got out. The house was dark, except for one low light in the back of the house.

"Black!" I screamed. "Hey!" I yelled, reaching inside my car to honk the horn. I waited a few minutes, pacing around the front lawn. The porch light eventually flickered on and I saw the curtains pull back.

Jake opened the door and stepped outside.

"Edward." He crossed his arms in front of him.

"How could you do that?" I screamed. "How could you do that to her? You knew she was in love with me, you knew!" I pointed at him.

"Jacob?" Billy, Jake's father, appeared in the doorway. "Is everything okay?"

"It's fine, Dad. Go back inside." Jake closed the door and started out to meet me. "Edward," he said softly.

"Don't give me that bullshit!" I backed up as he got closer. "I always knew you were in love with her, but I never thought….She was my fucking life, man!"

"Don't blame her. It wasn't her fault."

"What? Both of your pants magically fell off and you fell on top of her? Fuck you."

"We made…a mistake, Edward. I would never do anything to hurt her. You are right. I've been in love with her since I was fourteen years old and she came to visit with Charlie. But I never…I never had a chance with you in the picture. Don't you see it? She would die for you."

"She's got a funny way of showing it," I snapped. "Watch your back!" I started back towards my car.

"Is that a threat, Cullen?"

I placed my hands on top of my car as my shoulders heaved up and down in anger. I spun around and crossed the yard in an instant. He went down as my fist hit his jaw. I finally felt the physical pain I'd been waiting for. And I welcomed it.

I didn't wait for him to get up and I didn't respond to Billy starting across the yard towards us. I just got in my car and sped away in the same fashion I'd arrived.

I was done. I was done with La Push. I was done with Forks. And I was done with her.


	28. Outtake: The Great Tampon Adventure

**2nd outtake. Thought I'd end it on a positive note. Well I don't know if Edward would call this a positive experience, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy it. : )**

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><p>It was the one word that a guy never wanted to hear. Ever. Fucking tampon.<p>

I had a mom. I've had girlfriends. I know how their…business works, but I don't need to know the details and I sure as hell don't want to know about it. I chose to remain blissfully ignorant. I should have known Bella would blast through that ignorance like a damn bat out of Hell.

Fucking tampon.

I didn't want to do it. On my list of things I wanted to do it was so far from the bottom of the list that I needed a damn GPS to find it. But she was my woman, even if we were far from solid ground right now. So I did it.

I shuffled into the grocery store and grabbed one of those basket things because I honestly had no idea what I was doing.

"Hello!" One of the cashiers called.

I managed a nervous smile and started down the first aisle. I wasn't ready for _that_ aisle yet. The one with all of the girl things. They were always right next to the condoms and the Depends. Tampons, pads…liners. What's the difference? In or out right?

I grabbed some chips and some of that new dip that I'd been wanting to try as I slowly ambled down the aisles. Along the way I managed to pick up those little plastic toy soldiers, the sponge things that grow when you put the in water and an egg poacher for the microwave.

I glanced up at the numbered signs as I rounded the corner and froze when I saw "feminine needs" written underneath. I stopped just before I moved out across the aisle and slowly peeked around the corner. There was one chick about halfway down the aisle wearing sweatpants and carrying a King sized chocolate bar.

I skittered across, avoiding the aisle of Hell once more. By the time I made the next round, I'd grabbed a thing of chocolate milk and a Highlights magazine. When I saw two other women walking down _that_ aisle, I perched myself at the end and pulled a pen from its packaging as I started rummaging through the Highlights magazine looking for all of the hidden penguins.

When I glanced up again, I nearly lost it and let out a sigh of relief. There was a guy. A cock in the hen house. And he was alone.

I cleared my throat and threw my magazine into my basket as I hurried into the aisle. The guy looked up, his eyes wide with panic until he saw me.

"How ya doin?" I nodded and came to stand beside him.

"We shouldn't be here man," he mumbled, shaking his head. "It's not right."

I ran my fingers through my hair and glanced at the displays in front of me. It was almost too much to take in. I felt my manhood shrinking with each passing moment, almost so much so that I wouldn't be surprised if I sprouted a vagina. Even then I didn't think I'd know what the hell to do. How do they know which one is right?

I reached out and grabbed one of the boxes so I could read it a little more closely. I had no idea what I was looking for but as soon as I saw that fucking diagram on the back I threw it in the basket without another moment of consideration. I didn't need visuals. I needed this to be over.

The guy next to me sighed before making his final decision and walking away. I grabbed another box and shuddered as I started reading. _What the hell are wings? Are we preparing for flight?_ I shook my head and threw it in my basket.

I glanced to my side and started to panic. An older woman with an overly eager smile on her face started towards me. As soon as I saw her name tag, I knew she was an employee on a Momma Mission to help me with my shopping.

I frantically starting grabbing the boxes, anything and everything I could grab, and set them into my basket. She reached me just as it started overflowing and started to speak. I mumbled a "Thank you I'm just looking" and darted away.

I felt momentary relief until I got up to the register. A guy around my age was the only cashier.

I glanced down at my feet as I put my basket up on the belt. He pushed the button, roaring it to life as it carted my embarrassment towards him.

He was silent as he removed each box from the basket. I occupied myself by shuffling through their gum selection and trying to pretend I wasn't mortified.

"Your total is $54.31," he said.

I pulled out my credit card and swiped it without meeting his gaze. As I signed and reached for my receipt, he spoke again.

"Girlfriend?" He asked.

"Uh…roommate?"

"We've all done it, man. No shame." He held his fist up.

"No shame." I nodded and grabbed my bag as I bumped my fist to his. "No shame," I said again as I walked out of the store.


End file.
